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WHAT PICTURES TO SEE IN EUROPE 



BY THE SAME AUTHOR 



AMERICAN PICTURES AND THEIR 
PAINTERS 

WHAT PICTURES TO SEE IN 
AMERICA 

PICTURES AND THEIR PAINTERS 

WHAT PICTURES TO SEE IN 
EUROPE 

WHAT SCULPTURE TO SEE IN 
EUROPE 

FAMOUS PICTURES OF REAL BOYS 
AND GIRLS 

FAMOUS PICTURES OF REAL 
ANIMALS 



JOHN LANE COMPANY: NEW YORK 




The Adoration of the Lamb. Hubert and Jan van Eyck. 
Ghent, Belgium. 

The remarkable history of this famous altarpiece, stolen by 
the ravaging Hun in the world's greatest war, reached its 
climax in the restoration of all the original parts to Ghent as 
one of the first acts of restitution demanded of Germany. 

(see page 120) 



WHAT PICTURES 
TO SEE IN EUROPE 



BY 
LORINDA MUNSON BRYANT 

Author of "What Sculpture to See in Europe," "American Pictures 

and Their Painters," "Famous Pictures of Real Boys and 

Girls," "Famous Pictures of Real Animals," etc. 



NEW EDITION 
REVISED AND ENLARGED 



NEW YORK 

JOHN LANE COMPANY 

MCMXIX 



Copyright, 1910, 
By John Lane Company 



Copyright, 1919, 

By John Lane Company 



Press of 

J. J. Little & Ives Company 

New York, U. S. A. 



©CI.A530984 



TO 
MY SON 



-:d '9 



/y 



CONTENTS 

I. Mistakes of Sightseers in Europe and 
How to Avoid Them 

II. Vatican — Sistine Chapel 

III. Vatican — Tapestries, Stanze, Loggia 

and Picture Gallery . 

IV. Rome — Churches and Palaces 
V. Florence — Uffizi 

VI. Florence— Pitti 

VII. Florence — Academy 

VIII. Florence — Palaces and Churches 

IX. Venice — Academy 

X. Venice — Palaces and Churches 67 

XL Milan — Academy and Churches . 73 

XII. Seville 79 

XIII. Madrid— Prado - ... 86 

XIV. Toledo, Madrid — Prado, continued - 94 

[ vii ] 



16 

23 
29 

39 
48 

53 
60 



CONTENTS 



PAGE 



XV. Madrid — Prado, continued - - 101 

XVI. Amsterdam — Ryks Museum . . 109 
XVII. The Hague and Antwerp . . 115 

XVIII. Paris — Louvre Gallery . .121 

XIX. Paris — Louvre, continued . .129 

XX. Paris — Louvre, continued . . 138 

XXI. Paris — Luxembourg . . .146 

XXII. London — National Gallery . . 153 

XXIII. London — National Gallery, con- 

tinued ..... 160 

XXIV. London — National Portrait, Tate, 

and Grosvenor Galleries . .168 



[ viii ] 



ILLUSTRATIONS 



Adoration of the Lamb. Van Eyck. Ghent. Frontispiece 

FIG. PAGE. 

i. — Creation of Adam. Michael Angelo. Sistine 
Chapel, Vatican, Rome 

-Cumaean Sibyl. Michael Angelo. Sistine 
Chapel, Vatican, Rome 

-Jeremiah. Michael Angelo. Sistine Chapel 
Vatican, Rome 



— Detail from Last Judgment. Michael Angelo 
Sistine Chapel, Vatican, Rome 

— Last Judgment. Michael Angelo. Sistine 
Chapel, Vatican, Rome 

— Sistine Chapel. Vatican, Rome 

— St. Peter Receiving Keys. Perugino. Sistine 
Chapel, Vatican, Rome 

— Feed My Sheep. Raphael. Vatican, Rome 

— Madonna and Child. Pintoricchio. Vatican 
Rome ....... 

— Mount Parnassus. Raphael. Vatican, Rome 

— Transfiguration. Raphael. Vatican. Rome 

— Last Communion of St. Jerome. Domenichino 
Vatican, Rome 

— Playing Angel. Melozzo da Forli. Sacristy of 

St. Peter's 24 

[ix] 



21 



ILLUSTRATIONS 



A r^ PAGE 

14— Aurora. Guido Reni. Rospigliosi Palace, Rome 25 
15.— Descent from the Cross. Volterra. Church of 
Trinita de' Monti, Rome 

16.— Sibyls. Raphael. Church of Santa Maria della 
Pace, Rome . 

I 7-~ The Visitation. Albertinelli. 
Florence 

18.— Madonna of the Harpies. Andrea del Sarto 

Uffizi Gallery, Florence 
19.— St. Sebastian. II Sodoma 

Florence 

20.— Coronation of the Virgin. Botticelli. 

Gallery, Florence .... 
21.— Pope Julius II. Raphael. Uffizi Gallery 



Uffizi Gallery 



Uffizi Gallery 



Giorgione. Uffizi Gallery 



28 



29.— Holy Family. Andrea del Sarto. Pitti Gallery 
Florence J 



30.— Spring. Botticelli. Academy, Florence 
31.— The Baptism. Verrocchio. Academy, Florence . 49 
32.— The Assumption. Perugino. Academy, Florence co 

[xJ 



26 



27 



30 



33 



34 



35 



Florence 

22.— Knight of Malta. 
Florence 

23.— Magdalene. Titian. Pitti Gallery, Florence 
24.— Madonna of Grand Duke. Raphael. Pitti 
Gallery, Florence 

25.— The Muses. Romano. Pitti Gallery, Florence 42 

26.— The Fates. Michael Angelo. Pitti Gallery 
rlorence . . 

27.— The Concert. Giorgione. Pitti Gallery, Florence 

Three Ages of Man. Lorenzo Lotto. Pitti 
Gallery, Florence . 



36 

37 
40 

41 



43 
43 

46 
47 






ILLUSTRATIONS 

FIG. PAGE 

33. — The Coronation of the Virgin. Fra Filippo Lippi 
Academy, Florence .... 

34. — Madonna of the Star. Fra Angelico. San Marco 
Florence ... 



35. — Christ and Disciples. Fra Angelico. San Marco 
Florence ...... 



36. — Savonarola. Fra Bartolommeo. San Marco 
Florence 



37. — Group of Angels. Benozzo Gozzoli. Riccard 

Palace, Florence .... 

■ 

38. — Religion and Philosophy. Taddeo Gaddi (?) 
Santa Maria Novella, Florence 

39. — Last Supper. Andrea del Sarto. San Salvi 

Florence 58 

40. — Dante. Giotto. Bargello, Florence . . 59 

41. — The Assumption. Titian. Academy, Venice . 60 

42. — Presentation in the Temple. Titian. Academy 

Venice ........ 61 

43. — Supper in the House of Simon the Pharisee 

Veronese. Academy, Venice . . .61 

44. — The Madonna and Child. Bellini. Academy 

Venice . . . . . . .64 

45. — The Adulteress. Tintoretto. Academy, Venice 64 

46. — Supper in the House of Simon. Moretto. 

Academy, Venice 65 

47. — St. Ursula and her Father. Carpaccio. Academy, 

Venice 65 

48. — St. Barbara. Palma Vecchio. Church of Santa 

Maria Formosa, Venice . . . .68 

49. — Minerva. Tintoretto. Doges' Palace, Venice . 68 

50. — The Miracle of St. Mark. Tintoretto. Academy, 

Venice 69 

[xi] 



ILLUSTRATIONS 

FIG. PAGE - 

51.— St. John the Baptist and Other Saints. Cima. 

Madonna del' Orto, Venice 7° 

52. — Madonna of the Pesaro Family. Titian. Church 

of Santa Maria dei Frari, Venice . . . . 71 
53. — The Last Supper. Leonardo da Vinci. Santa Maria 

delle Grazia, Milan 74 

54. — Head of Christ. Leonardo da Vinci. Brera Gallery, 

Milan ' . -74 

55.— Marriage of the Virgin. Raphael. Brera Gallery, 

Milan 75 

56. — The Guardian Angel. Murillo. Cathedral. Seville . 80 
57. — Vision of St. Anthony of Padua. Murillo. Cathedral. 

Seville 81 

58. — Moses Striking the Rock. Murillo. Hospital. 

Seville 83 

59. — St. Anthony of Padua. Murillo. Museum. Seville . 84 
60. — St. Joseph and Infant Son. Murillo. Museum. 

Seville 85 

61. — Maids of Honor. Velasquez. Prado. Madrid. . 86 
62. — Antonio el Inglese and his Dog. Velasquez. Prado. 

Madrid 87 

63. — Philip IV and his Dog. Velasquez. Prado. Madrid. 88 
64. — JEsop. Velasquez. Prado. Madrid . . .89 

65. — Surrender at Breda. Velasquez. Prado. Madrid . 90 
66. — The Topers. Velasquez. Prado. Madrid . . 91 
67. — The Tapestry Weavers. Velasquez. Prado. Madrid 92 

fail 



ILLUSTRATIONS 

FIG. PAGE. 

68. — Burial of Count of Orgaz. El Greco. Church of 

Santo Tome. Toledo 95 

69. — Portrait of Cardinal Tavera. El Greco. Hospital. 

Toledo 96 

70. — Portrait of a Man. El Greco. Prado. Madrid . 97 

71. — The Pottery Seller, Goya. Prado. Madrid . . 98 

72. — Portrait of Queen Maria Louisa. Goya. Prado. 

Madrid 99 

73. — Mariano. Goya. Private Collection. Madrid . 100 

74. — The Annunciation. Fra Angelica. Prado. Madrid . 101 

75. — The Cardinal. Raphael. Prado. Madrid . . 102 

76. — Charles V on Horseback. Titian. Prado. Madrid . 103 

77. — Touch Me Not. Correggio. Prado. Madrid . . 104 

78. — The Graces. Rubens. Prado. Madrid . . . 105 

79. — The Musician. Van Dyck. Prado. Madrid . . 106 

80. — Night Watch. Rembrandt. Ryks Museum, 

Amsterdam no 

81. — The Cloth Merchants. Rembrandt. Ryks Museum, 

Amsterdam in 

82. — The Banquet of Civic Guards. Van der Heist. 

Ryks Gallery, Amsterdam 112 

8^. — The Jester. Frans Hals. Ryks Museum, Amsterdam 113 

84. — Christmas. Jan Steen. Ryks Museum, Amsterdam . 113 

fxiiil 



ILLUSTRATIONS 

FIG. PAGE. 

85. — School of Anatomy. Rembrandt. Picture Gallery, 

The Hague 116 

86— The Bull. Paul Potter. Picture Gallery, The 

Hague • 117 

87— The Despatch. TerBorch. Picture Gallery, The 

Hague 117 

88. — Soap Bubbles. Van Mieris. Picture Gallery, 

The Hague. 118 

89. — The Descent from the Cross. Rubens. Antwerp 

Cathedral, Antwerp 119 

90. — Le Source. Ingres. Louvre, Paris. . .122 

91. — Mona Lisa. Leonardo da Vinci. Louvre, Paris 123 

92. — St. Michael and the Dragon. Raphael. Louvre, 

Paris 124 

93. — Marriage of St. Catharine. Correggio. Louvre, 

Paris 125 

94. — St. Augustine and his Mother. Scheffer. Louvre, 

Paris 125 

95. — Immaculate Conception. Murillo. Louvre, 

Paris 126 

96. — Coronation of the Virgin. Fra Angelico. Louvre, 

Paris . . . . . . . .127 

97. — Dance of the Muses. Corot. Louvre, Paris . 130 

98. — Cattle Going to Work. Troyon. Louvre, Paris 131 

99. — Madame Recamier. David. Louvre, Paris . 131 

100. — Artist and Daughter. Madame Lebrun. Louvre, 

Paris 132 

101. — Old Man and Boy. Ghirlandajo. Louvre, Paris 133 
102. — Mount Parnassus. Mantegna. Louvre, Paris 134 
103. — Charles I. and his Horse. Van Dyck. Louvre, 

Par is 135 

fxiv] 



ILLUSTRATIONS 

PIG. PAGE. 

104. — Supper at Emmaus. Rembrandt. Louvre, Paris 138 

105. — L'Infanta Marguerite. Velasquez. Louvre, Paris 139 

106. — Dropsical Woman. Dou. Louvre, Paris . . 140 

107. — Fish Market. Ostade. Louvre, Paris . . 141 

108. — Officer and Young Woman. Ter Borch. Louvre, 

Paris 141 

109. — Young Girl. Flinck. Louvre, Paris . . 142 

no. — The Blessing. Chardin. Louvre, Paris . . 142 

in. — Helena Fourment and Children. Rubens. Louvre, 

Paris 143 

112. — Whistler's Mother. Whistler. Luxembourg, 

Paris 146 

113. — Carmencita. Sargent. Luxembourg, Paris . 147 

114. — The Gleaner. Breton. Luxembourg, Paris . 148 

115. — The Dream. Detaille. Luxembourg, Paris . 149 

116. — The Foundling. Decamps. Luxembourg, Paris 150 

117. — Oxen Ploughing. Rosa Bonheur. Luxem- 
bourg, Paris 150 

118. — Christ in the Peasant's Hut. Von Uhde. Luxem- 
bourg, Paris 151 

119. — The Hemicycle. Chavannes. The Sorbonne 

(University of Paris), Paris . . . -151 

120. — Raising of Lazarus. Piombo. National Gallery, 

London . . . . . . .154 

121. — St. Helena. Veronese. National Gallery, 

London . . . . . . . 155 

122. — The Tailor. Moroni. National Gallery, London 156 

123. — Doge Loredano. Bellini. National Gallery, 

London 157 

124. — Chapeau de Paille. Rubens. National Gallery, 

London 158 

[xv] 



ILLUSTRATIONS 

FIG. PAGE. 

125. — The Avenue. Hobbema. National Gallery, 

London 159 

126. — The Shrimp Girl. Hogarth. National Gallery, 

London 160 

127. — Artist and Dog. Hogarth. National Gallery, 

London 161 

128. — Canterbury Pilgrims. Stothard. National Gal- 
lery, London 161 

129. — Angel Heads. Reynolds. National Gallery, 

London 162 

130. — Mrs. Siddons. Gainsborough. National Gallery, 

London 163 

131. — The Hay- Wain. Constable. National Gallery, 

London. 163 

132. — Shoeing the Bay Mare. Landseer. National 

Gallery, London 166 

133. — The Fighting Temeraire. Turner. National Gal- 
lery, London 167 

134, — Matthew Arnold. Watts. National Portrait 

Gallery, London 168 

135. — Lady Macbeth. Sargent. Tate Gallery, 

London .169 

136. — Orpheus and Eurydice. Watts. Tate Gallery, 

London .172 

137. — Mrs. Siddons. Reynolds. Grosvenor House, 

London .172 

138. — The Blue Boy. Grosvenor House, London. . 173 



[xvi] 



WHAT PICTURES TO SEE IN EUROPE 



I 



MISTAKES OF SIGHTSEERS IN EUROPE 
AND HOW TO AVOID THEM 

TWO grave faults are frequent in most Ameri- 
can travellers who visit Europe. They are 
defects, too, that in the eyes of thinkers often 
have made these tourists, and through them their 
country, a laughing-stock to the world. Briefly 
these faults are: (i) covering too much ground in 
too short a space of time; (2) insufficient prepa- 
ration intellectually for the trip. No truer state- 
ment was ever made about foreign travel than 
that "you bring back from Europe what you take 
with you." We all admit that travel is an edu- 
cator, but must surely agree that haste and igno- 
rance are not conducive to the education of the 
traveller. 

It is far from my desire to foster either of these 
faults, yet so long as they exist it is my wish to 
minimize them to the smallest degree of harm- 
fulness. In order to accomplish this the empty 
brain must be filled in hurried time with some- 
thing that can be carried duty free back to Amer- 
ica. No scheme, however simple, can fill the 

[3] 



WHAT PICTURES TO SEE 

void of either time or brains; on the other hand, 
it is possible to help those people who hurry 
because they must and who really want to learn, 
yet have had no time to prepare. 

Of all the treasures in Europe pictures prob- 
ably would lead the list in numbers; and of all 
the treasures that the travelling public goes to 
see pictures would no doubt take the lead. But 
between the vast number of pictures that cover 
miles of wall space in the galleries of Europe, and 
the special few that the general sightseer ought 
to remember, there is a gap too wide for an un- 
trained mind to comprehend. Baedeker, and 
other admirable guide-book makers, have starred 
and double-starred selected pictures in their 
closely printed pages until an attempt to see even 
the specialized pictures has tired the eyes and 
confused the brain; and yet not a fraction of the 
whole number mentioned in these guide-books 
are marked with an asterisk. 

The question is often asked, "How many pic- 
tures ought one to remember well enough to de- 
scribe intelligently after a summer in Europe?" 
I have heard prominent educators put the number 
as low as twenty. But why set any limit? Let 
each individual decide the number for himself. 
Fortunately the postal-card deluge and cheap 
reproductions have so multiplied the likenesses 
of the original paintings that the returned trav- 

[4] 



MISTAKES OF SIGHTSEERS 

eller is able to keep before him constant reminders 
of the masterpieces. This has reduced the ne- 
cessity of carrying the details of each picture in 
one's mind, enabling the tourist to devote more 
time to a study of the underlying thought and 
characteristics of each artist. 

It is vitally important in studying pictures that 
the best examples in each gallery be surely seen, 
and also that they be studied before the eyes and 
brain have become fagged from miscellaneous 
sightseeing. In order to do this we must be 
familiar with the pictures that we have come 
specially to see. Now my plan is to take you with 
me through some of the principal galleries of 
Europe and to point out a few of the pictures that 
the world has accepted as masterpieces. We 
recognise, as did Michael Angelo, that it is " pub- 
lic opinion" which, after all, gives the true value 
to a work of art, but furthermore it must be public 
opinion aided by time and thoughtful criticism. 
In following out my plan no legitimate means will 
be neglected that can help to fix the world pic- 
tures in the mind. There will be plenty of anec- 
dotes and stories relative to the lives of the artists, 
besides pertinent bits of history that will place both 
painter and painting in their proper setting. 
Tradition, legend, and myth also will be used to 
explain the meaning of the subjects and to draw 
attention to the artist's skill in utilising classical 

[5] 



WHAT PICTURES TO SEE 

or biblical allusions. Much of the import of a 
picture is often lost, just as are classical references 
in literature, through a failure to appreciate some 
special sign or symbol borrowed from the mythical 
or historical that illuminates the painter's meaning. 
Aided by the method outlined above, and assisted 
also by reproductions of some of the masterpieces, 
I hope to fix the essentials of a number of pic- 
tures in your minds. When at length you have 
an opportunity to see the original paintings, your 
judgment, trained to recognise the best, will be 
a reliable guide in selecting other masterpieces 
from among the vast numbers in the various 
galleries. 

Those who desire to supplement the illustra- 
tions in this book with reproductions of the other 
pictures mentioned may easily do so with blue 
prints or half-tones purchasable at a penny each. 

I have not attempted to give the exact situation 
of the pictures in the various galleries, as changes 
are always liable to occur in the arrangement. 
A local guide-book or inquiry of an attendant, 
even when he speaks no English, will supply these 
details. 

No more profitable place to begin sightseeing 
can be found than Italy, and Rome — whither all 
roads lead, and the Vatican — where the art of 
painting may be said to centre. But the Vatican 
is a vast place so again we must specialise and 

[6] 






MISTAKES OF SIGHTSEERS 

name the Sistine Chapel. Let me impress upon 
you at the start, that this trip is not intended to 
exhaust the picture treasures of the galleries 
visited, but rather to place before you as many 
masterpieces as can be seen comfortably and with 
profit. 



[?] 



II 



ROME— THE VATICAN— THE SISTINE 
CHAPEL 

MICHAEL ANGELO, the presiding genius 
of the Sistine Chapel, has produced on 
the ceiling a work so marvellous that for four 
centuries it has indexed the high-water mark of 
fresco painting. Along the centre of the ceiling 
he has depicted scenes representing the history 
of the world from the first day of creation to the 
flood. Around the central panels are alternating 
prophets and sibyls arranged as though they 
were looking out on the world foretelling coming 
events. 

In the first three panels Michael Angelo pic- 
tures the Creator in the act of creation. Such 
reverent daring was never before put on record. 
And then, as though to intensify and yet soften 
the awful mystery of the birth of a world, in the 
fourth division (Fig. i) he portrays man in the 
nascent state. The latent power of that prostrate 
figure is tremendous! One almost feels the out- 
stretched arm gather strength as the divine spark 
of life leaps from the finger of God through the 
[8] 




Fig. 2. Cumaean Sibyl. Michael Angelo. Sistine 
Chapel, Vatican, Rome. 



ROME 

intervening space. The whole being of the newly 
created Adam is rousing into life before our very 
eyes. Nothing could equal the simplicity and 
depth of such a picture but the words of the Bible 
itself: "So God created man in his own image, 
in the image of God created he him." How like 
the shrouded body of the Creator is the nude form 
of the creature! 

In the fifth division Michael Angelo continues 
to interpret that mysterious story told in Genesis. 
And who but a great master could have so graph- 
ically pictured those grand old words? Listen! 
"And the Lord caused a deep sleep to fall on 
Adam, and he slept; and he took one of his ribs. 
.... And the rib which the Lord God had taken 
from man, made he woman." Now look at the 
artist's "Creation of Eve." The profound sleep 
of Adam, the eager, womanly adoration of the 
newly created Eve, and the human fatherhood of 
the Creator are products of a God-given genius. 
Only one whose Bible was a vital part of himself 
could have told that story so simply and forcefully. 

The sibyls foretold to the Gentiles the same 
event that was the theme of the old Hebrew proph- 
ets — the advent and mission of a saviour. Pos- 
sibly because the Cumaean Sibyl prophesied the 
Nativity she is the most familiar sibyl in art al- 
though she is represented in age from fifteen to de- 
crepit old womanhood. We are inclined to believe 

[9] 



WHAT PICTURES TO SEE 

that the dignity of age is greatly to her advantage 
as she consults her book among her prophetic 
companions in the Sistine Ceiling (Fig. 2). Just 
why King Tarquin, six centuries before Christ, 
withstood her warnings is not known; but tradi- 
tion says that three times she came to him offering 
her books before he bought them. At first she 
had nine books, then burning three she offered 
the remaining six, and after burning three more 
Tarquin bought the last three for the original 
sum asked for the nine. So precious were these 
leaves that for centuries they were under the care 
of the priests, until the temple of Jupiter was 
burned in B.C. 83. 

Before we commune with "Jeremiah," one of 
the grandest figures in all art, let us try to grasp 
a little of the architectural design of this great 
scheme of ceiling decoration. Look at those 
decorative figures placed with such consummate 
skill that each one, whether of natural colour or of 
a bronze tint, emerges from the surrounding 
scenes as though coming from a world of reality. 
It seems incredible that a vaulted surface — flat 
in the middle — could be covered so adroitly with 
imitation columns, pillars, and cornices that the 
figures amongst them seem but a part of an archi- 
tectural scheme ; and yet the Cumaean Sibyl holds 
her place in this vast assembly of two hundred 
figures as though she alone had been considered. 

[10] 



ROME 

Now we turn to " Jeremiah" (Fig. 3), chief 
among the prophets. That noble old seer with his 
head resting on his hand is communing with him- 
self. We know with what bitterness, sadness, and 
hopefulness he felt the sins, backslidings, and 
repentances of .the chosen people. His attitude 
is that of one who not only foretells through 
visions but understands the signs of the time. 
The strength and grandeur, sympathy and ten- 
derness condensed into that single figure show 
Michael Angelo's wonderful power in making 
those old characters live again for us. 

Michael Angelo was scarcely thirty-five years 
old when he began the Sistine Chapel. He had 
returned to Rome in 1508 to resume his work on 
the tomb of Julius II; but Bramante, the archi- 
tect, jealous of the young artist and wishing for 
his downfall, suggested to Pope Julius that he 
was just the man to paint the chapel, knowing 
that painting was Angelo's weak point. Michael 
Angelo objected, but what cared the Pope that 
he had done no fresco painting since the days 
when he was a lad in Ghirlandajo's studio ? The 
Pope's wish was law, and for once the artist 
yielded, possibly not so much to please his noble 
patron as to show Bramante that it would take 
a greater man than he to accomplish his ruin. 

Michael Angelo allowed Bramante to put up 
the scaffolding in the Chapel, only to bring him 

[11] 



WHAT PICTURES TO SEE 

to confusion, however, by tearing down his bun 
gling work and demanding to know how the holes 
made in the dome for the cords to support the 
suspended scaffolding were to be filled. Bra- 
mante answered superciliously, "Fill in with 
plaster, and paint them after the rest is finished." 
Michael Angelo was too disgusted to notice such 
silly nonsense and proceeded to make his own scaf 
folding, and for the first time a painter's platform 
was erected without holes in the wall. This little 
episode was but the beginning of numberless an- 
noyances that marked the progress of the work 
through the four years until its completion. 

One of the tiffs that arose while the artist was 
executing this marvel of art almost proved fatal 
to its completion. Michael Angelo wished for 
money that he might visit his father in Florence. 
Julius began at once to interrogate him as to how 
soon he would finish the Chapel. "As soon as I 
can," the artist replied. This answer was like 
fire to tow. The touchy old pontiff flew into a 
passion and repeating in great fury, "As soon as 
I can," struck the artist with his cane. This indig- 
nity was too much for Michael Angelo and he 
left for Florence with the intention of not return- 
ing. But the Pope — always the first to renew 
the broken friendship — soon repented him of his 
haste. He sent his favourite attendant with a large 
sum of money as a peace offering and a humble 

[12] 




Fig. 



3. Jeremiah. 
Chapel. 



Michael Angelo. Sistine 
Vatican, Rome. 




Fig. 4. Detail from Last Judgment 

Michael Angelo. Sistine Chapel, 

Vatican, Rome. 



WHAT PICTURES TO SEE 

Chapel. Again the wonderful foreshortening of 
the individual figures almost surpasses belief. 
The number and variety of the symbols of mar- 
tyrdom and the works of the devil given to the 
re-embodied souls of saints and sinners are only 
comparable to Dante's Inferno. The fresco was 
first exhibited to the public on Christmas Day, 

1 54i. 

Michael Angelo was now sixty-six and had 
lost some of the fire of his youth, but he still held 
his own against opponents. One day the Pope's 
Master of Ceremonies, Biagio da Cesena, ex- 
pressed his opinion that the naked figures in the 
"Last Judgment" were fit only for a bath house. 
This statement came to the ears of Michael 
Angelo; he said nothing, but simply painted 
Biagio's portrait among the damned as Minos. 
The furious Biagio appealed to the Pope without 
avail. "I am sorry to hear it," said the Pope 
when he was told where he had been placed in 
the fresco, "if he had only put you in purgatory, 
I could have got you out; but as you are in hell 
I can do nothing for you. My power doesn't 
reach so far. Nulla est redemption Biagio is 
still in hell in the "Last Judgment." 

The other frescos in the Sistine Chapel (Fig. 6) 
were painted by six of the leading artists of Italy 
about the time of Michael Angelo's birth — 1475. 
These artists, Pintoricchio, Botticelli, Ghirlan- 

[143 




Fig. 6. Sistine Chapel. Vatican, Rome. 



ROME 

dajo, Perugino, and Rosselli, have works in every 
gallery in Europe, so their names will grow famil- 
iar to us as we proceed on our journey. The 
subjects of the twelve frescos on the side walls 
are from the Old and New Testament. The 
wily Rosselli, who painted six of the twelve, was 
inferior as an artist, but superior as a student of 
human nature. He recognised the plebeian taste 
of Pope Sixtus IV, who ordered the Chapel built 
and decorated, and caught the Pope's fancy by 
covering his trial picture with gold. Human 
nature repeats itself in all ages. 

One of the best preserved of these frescos is 
" Christ Giving the Keys to St. Peter," by Pe- 
rugino (Fig. 7). We are especially interested in 
this artist because of his famous pupil Raphael. 
Comparing this painting with an early work of 
Raphael's, "The Marriage of the Virgin," in 
Milan (Fig. 55), we find how much alike were 
master and pupil during the early years of the 
latter's art career. The spaciousness of this 
composition of Perugino's is particularly pleasing. 
Notice how the space between the foreground and 
background is intensified by the tessellated pave- 
ment and the figures placed at varying distances 
from each other. How satisfying is that lofty 
dome with its open verandas, and the lovely 
landscape in the distance set against the fleecy 
clouds and deep blue of the sky! 

[15] 



Ill 



ROME— THE VATICAN— TAPESTRIES, 

STANZE, LOGGIA, AND PICTURE 

GALLERY 

V/'OU possibly noticed underneath the older 
•*■ frescos in the Sistine Chapel painted imi- 
tations of tapestries. Let us now look at the 
real fabrics displayed in one of the corridors of 
the Vatican, and on state occasions hung in the 
Chapel. Raphael designed and painted the origi- 
nal cartoons or patterns by order of Julius II. 
These were sent to Flanders where the tapestries 
were woven in wool, silk, and gold. For many 
years the original cartoons were lost, but seven 
of them were finally recovered through the efforts 
of Peter Paul Rubens, and, at his suggestion, 
Charles I. bought them for England and to-day 
they are among the treasures of the South Kensing- 
ton Museum, London. 

Raphael chose for his subjects on these tapes- 
tries stories from the New Testament, most of 
them illustrating various scenes from the lives of 
the Apostles as told in The Acts. Possibly the 
picture most familiar to us, however, is the one 
[16] 



ROME 

representing the memorable dialogue between 
the Saviour and Peter as related by St. John, when 
the charge was given "Feed my Sheep" (Fig. 8). 
While Raphael no doubt had in mind that morn- 
ing so long ago when the Saviour met a few of the 
disciples on the shores of the sea of Tiberias, he 
has modified the scene to represent St. Peter as 
the founder of the Roman Church. All of the 
disciples are present and St. Peter is receiving 
the keys as significant of his superior standing 
among them. 

Naturally we turn next to Raphael's Stanze, 
but before doing so, let us stop to see a little gem 
in the Borgia apartment — Pintoricchio's " Ma- 
donna and Child" (Fig. 9). These rooms, decor- 
ated by order of Pope Alexander VI., the infamous 
Borgia of history, were walled up by Julius II. 
and were not seen again until Pope Leo XIII. 
ordered them opened less than half a century ago. 
The very name Borgia suggests plots, murders, 
and unseemly conduct in the most holy rela- 
tionships of life. It scarcely seems possible that 
Julia Farnese, the mistress of Alexander VI., 
could have been the model for this beautiful pic- 
ture. The fresco is over the door of one of the 
chambers, so do not overlook it, thinking to find 
it among the larger paintings on the side walls. 

Raphael's Stanze in the papal state-apart- 
ments in the Vatican were painted by order of 

[17] 



WHAT PICTURES TO SEE 

Popes Julius II. and Leo X. When Michael 
Angelo began the Sistine ceiling in 1508, Raphael 
also commenced decorating the rooms of the 
state-apartment. He was then twenty-five years 
old, and at his death, twelve years later, only three 
of the four rooms were completed. Not all the 
frescos in these three rooms are by Raphael's 
own hand, yet his happy faculty of instilling his 
own spirit into his pupils has made the work a 
perfect whole. The room of greatest interest, 
and almost entirely by the master's hand, is the 
Stanza della Signatura, so called because the 
papal indulgences were signed and sealed therein. 
The subjects here represented are symbolical 
of Theology, Poetry, Philosophy, and Justice. 
In the lunette, under the ceiling fresco of Poetry, 
is "Parnassus" (Fig. 10), a subject wonderfully 
pleasing in conception and arrangement. On 
top of the mount in the centre of the circle lsits 
Apollo surrounded by the muses, and at his eft 
blind Homer inspired to sing by the music of ^he 
god. Dante, Virgil, Petrarch, and Sappho a re 
just below Homer and on the opposite side a re 
Pindar and Horace, in company with contempo- 
raries of the artists of the early sixteenth century. 
Raphael's marvellous skill as a space-filler has 
transformed the awkward shape over and around 
the window frame into a form most convenient 
for the design he wished to portray. 

[18] 




Fig. 8. Feed My Sheep. Raphael. Vatican, Rome. 




Fig. 9. Madonna and Child. Pintoricchio. 
Vatican, Rome. 



ROME 

Another place in the Vatican where Raphael 
has shown this power of turning curious and un- 
equal shapes to advantage is the Loggia — a 
portico ornamented with his pictures. On the 
ceiling of this gallery is Raphael's Bible. The 
subdividing rafters separate this ceiling into thir- 
teen vaults and in each vault are four scenes. 
The subjects in twelve of the vaults are taken 
from the Old Testament and in the last one are 
scenes from the New Testament. It is inter- 
esting to compare Raphael's conception of "The 
Creation of Eve," the fourth picture in the second 
section, with Michael Angelo's treatment of the 
same subject on the Sistine ceiling. These paint- 
ings are badly injured, for the portico was open to 
the weather until 1813 when the glass front was 
added. 

In the picture gallery of the Vatican the first 
painting that claims our attention is Raphael's 
" Transfiguration " (Fig. 11), the work that was 
left unfinished at the artist's untimely death. 
Raphael began this canvas in a trial of skill be- 
tween himself and Sebastiano del Piombo. The 
latter's picture, "The Raising of Lazarus," is in 
the National Gallery, London (Fig. 120). Michael 
Angelo, jealous for Piombo and knowing his 
weakness in drawing, himself drew in the figure of 
Lazarus. This concession to his ability caused 
Raphael to make the famous remark: "Michael 

[19] 



WHAT PICTURES TO SEE 

Angelo has graciously favoured me, in that he 
deemed me worthy to compete with himself, and 
not with Sebastiano." No one but a master would 
have dared to make two centres of interest, as 
Raphael has in this painting. But note how he 
has subordinated the human side in the lower 
half of the picture by raising the hands of the 
distressed disciples and pointing them to the 
transfigured Saviour above as their only source 
of strength. This masterpiece, with colours still 
wet, was carried in the funeral train and 
placed at the head of the young painter as his 
body lay in state. 

Opposite this glorious painting is Raphael's 
picture of the "Madonna of Foligno." This 
picture was painted for Sigismund Conti, an aged 
bishop of Foligno, in commemoration of the 
preservation of his life, when a shell exploded 
near him at the bombardment of the city of 
Foligno. The painting was finished after the 
bishop's death and remained in Rome for fifty 
years before it was taken to Foligno. Napoleon 
carried the painting to Paris and after the battle 
of Waterloo it was returned to Italy and finally 
hung in the Vatican gallery. Although this is 
one of Raphael's earlier oil paintings it is in colour- 
blending one of the most beautiful. For the first 
time in the history of art the traditional throne 
under a canopy gives place to clouds and the free 

[20] 




Fig. 11. Transfiguration. Raphael. Vatican, Rome. 





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Fig. 12. 



Last Communion of St. Jerome. 
Vatican, Rome. 



Domeniehino. 



ROME 

air of heaven where the Madonna and Child float 
encircled by a halo of cherubs with sweet baby 
faces. The boy-angel looking up at the Virgin 
seems to be the connecting bond between earth and 
heaven in this grateful thank-offering. Vasari 
says, "It is not possible to imagine anything more 
graceful or beautiful than this child." The ex- 
quisite beauty of the Virgin, the sweet joyousness 
of the baby Jesus, and the sincere gratitude of 
the worn and aged bishop raised this picture to 
a place of great distinction among the artists of 
all Italy during Raphael's own lifetime. 

In the next room is Perugino's "Resurrection," 
which is especially interesting because the sleep- 
ing soldier in it is probably a portrait of Raphael 
and the fleeing man at the left that of Perugino 
himself. Raphael at this time was a pupil in 
Perugino's studio and may have assisted on the 
picture. The solitariness of the figures in the 
composition is a marked trait of Perugino; be- 
sides there is here also a solidity of colour and a 
crisp precision of execution that are prominent 
features of all his oil paintings. 

Domenichino's "Last Communion of St. 
Jerome" (Fig. 12) has acquired a reputation 
that its real merit can hardly justify. For some 
unaccountable reason also, it has crept into several 
lists of the ten great pictures of the world, but 
that it is an intruder in such company is self- 

[21] 



WHAT PICTURES TO SEE 

evident. Domenichino has represented poor old 
St. Jerome so realistically, however, that no one 
could doubt that he had crucified the flesh until 
all earthly desires were overcome. The compo- 
sition is powerful, but the lack of warmth in 
colour and the hardness in handling detract from 
its value as a masterpiece. It is pleasing to note 
how the artist has recognised the quaint legend 
of the saint by placing the lion near him. We 
all love the old story wherein it is told that St. 
Jerome extracted a thorn from the lion's foot, 
and that ever afterward this king of the forest 
was the faithful- servant and protector of the old 
saint in his desert home. Then later when the 
lion had offended his master he sought forgiveness 
by bringing to St. Jerome another lion with a 
thorn in his foot and thus redeemed himself by 
good works. Such old legends teach many a 
wholesome lesson. 

The few pictures we have selected in the Vati- 
can are simply examples to be used until time 
and inclination shall prompt a wider study of the 
great masterpieces in that famous gallery. 



[22] 



IV 



ROME— PICTURES IN CHURCHES AND 
PALACES 

T N the Sacristy of St. Peter's are the "Angel" 
-*■ (Fig- 13) fragments from the frescos of 
Melozzo da Forli formerly in the church of S.S. 
Apostoli. These beautiful beings with wings 
are nearly as well known as the Fra Angelico 
angels. Originally they formed the choir in the 
"Ascension of Christ," and were arranged in 
the clouds around the central scene. There 
is something especially sweet and girlish in the 
attitude of this angel as she gazes so wistfully at 
the scene below. She is a real child of the earth 
but with heavenly longings that make the short, 
firm wings her rightful possession. Although 
da Forli is scarcely mentioned in the history of 
art, his power in foreshortening alone places him 
among the great artists. 

Most of the isolated pictures in Rome are well 
known through copies, but probably the most 
familiar is Guido Reni's " Aurora" (Fig. 14). 
This fresco is on the ceiling of one of the rooms 
of the Rospigliosi Palace. The colours in the 

[23] 



WHAT PICTURES TO SEE 

" Aurora" have scarcely grown a whit dim in 
the two centuries and a half since Guido laid 
them. So clear and pleasing is the harmony 
of these colours and so refined the graceful figures 
of the dancing muses that one might think Guido 
Reni a contemporary of Raphael. Unfortu- 
nately, his insincerity of pose and expression 
typify the decadence in Italy a hundred years 
later. We forget this insincerity, however, in 
our delight over the dun horses against the yel- 
low sky, and the exquisite shading of the god- 
desses' robes and the blue haze hovering over 
the bit of landscape below. 

Another painting of Guido's that is very sug- 
gestive of Raphael's influence is "St. Michael 
and the Dragon," in the church of S. Maria dei 
Cappuccini. The composition of the subject 
in the two pictures is almost identical. In Guido's 
picture the Archangel puts forth real physical 
strength to overcome the dragon, but Raphael's 
"St. Michael" triumphed through moral force 
alone (see Fig. 92). The archangels of both 
artists are wonderfully beautiful in form and fea- 
tures, but Guido has given to his a touch of human 
vanity quite unfitting one who is the conqueror 
of the powers of hell and the Angel of Death. 
It was Michael the Archangel, the first and mighti- 
est of beings, that God sent to expel Satan and 
the fallen angels from heaven. In all represen- 

[24] 




Fig. 13. Playing Angel. Melozzo da Forli. Sacristy of St. Peter's. 



ROME 

tations of this subject in art Satan is half human 
or dragon-like in form and St. Michael, stand- 
ing with his foot on the Evil One, holds a lance 
or chain. 

We will now go to the Palazzo Barberini and 
look at another very popular picture of Guido 
Reni's, the so-called "Beatrice Cenci." This por- 
trait has become so firmly fixed in the minds of 
picture-lovers as the likeness of the fair parricide 
a few days before her execution, that it is hard to 
overcome that belief. But it is now an established 
fact that Guido did not come to Rome until after 
her execution for instigating the murder of her 
father, Futhermore, this painting is not a por- 
trait at all, but Guido's idea of a sibyl. With 
these facts in mind it is easy to trace sibylline at- 
tributes in the far-seeing expression of the eyes, 
the classic folds of the turban on the head, and 
the severe simplicity of the drapery. As tradi- 
tion makes many of the sibyls not more than 
fifteen years old, this lovely young girl might 
very well foretell the Nativity or the Massacre 
of the Innocents. 

Another familiar picture in this gallery is 
Raphael's "Fornarina." Raphael fell in love 
with this lady while he was at work in the Vatican 
and although a man of many loves he remained 
true to her until his death. The name "Forna- 
rina" came from the supposition that her father 

[25] 



WIIAT PICTURES TO SEE 

was a baker (fornajo). She is not beautiful, as 
we judge of beauty to-day, but the artist's own 
words will tell why he adored her, "Love, thou 
hast bound me with the light of thy two eyes 
which torment me, with a face like snow and 
roses, with sweet words and tender manners." 
No words could describe the picture more fully. 
The two eyes do indeed hold one captive, and in 
their unfathomable depth lies the charm of her 
personality. Raphael painted his lady-love many 
times. 

In one of the chapels of S. Trinita de' Monte 
is Volterra's " Descent from the Cross" (Fig. 15). 
It is thought from the excellence of the drawing 
and composition that Michael Angelo may have 
assisted Volterra. This is possible, for the 
friendship that existed between these two men 
was very close and when Michael Angelo was 
nearing his end it was Volterra who stayed by 
him and finally closed his eyes in death. This 
painting is often compared with Rubens' " De- 
scent " in Antwerp (see Fig. 89). Again we find 
a repetition in composition, but Rubens, a hundred 
years later, has far excelled in the artistic handling 
of the subject. We value Volterra's "Descent" 
as his masterpiece, but would not class it among 
the ten great pictures as has often been done. 

Over the arch of the entrance to the Chigi Chapel 
in the church of S. Maria della Pace, are Ra- 

[26] 




Fig. 15. Descent from the Cross. Volterra. 
Church of Trinita de' Monti, Rome. 












Ve 








L ,„»«ir_i. 


llix _ 



ROME 

phael's "Sibyls" (Fig. 16). So similar are they in 
conception to those in the Sistine Chapel that 
Michael Angelo remarked when he first saw 
them, "He has walked through my Chapel." 
Alike, and yet how different! Just compare the 
"Cumaean Sibyl," at the extreme left of the fresco, 
with the older artist's Cumaean Sibyl (Fig. 2). 
There is nothing of the supernatural about this 
lovable, sweetly human woman. With what fit- 
ness and grace the figures are grouped in the semi- 
circle! There is not the slightest intimation that 
the artist was restricted but rather that he planned 
the architecture to suit his fresco. In fact, Raphael 
decorated so many of these broken spaces in 
churches and palaces that his peculiar grouping 
could be designated as Raphaelesque. 

An interesting story is told in reference to this 
painting of the Sibyls. When the fresco was 
ordered, 500 ducats was paid on account. When 
the work was finished Raphael asked for the 
amount yet due him, but Chigi's cashier refused 
to pay. The matter was referred to Michael 
Angelo and his verdict was that each head alone in 
the fresco was worth 100 ducats. When Chigi 
heard this he ordered that 400 ducats be paid 
him at once and advised his cashier that he "be 
courteous with Raphael and satisfy him well, for 
if he makes us pay for the draperies, too, we shall 
be ruined! " 

[27] 



WHAT PICTURES TO SEE 

We may again see Raphael at his best in " Gal- 
atea," in the Farnesina Villa, on the Tiber. 
This fresco was painted entirely by Raphael's 
own hand in 141 5. In it he has followed the de- 
scription of the sea-nymph, Galatea, as given 
by Philostratus, the Greek sophist of the third 
century a.d. 

Galatea was the goddess who, to escape the 
hateful advances of the monster Cyclops, made 
her home in the depth of the sea. We see her in 
this fresco surrounded by admiring tritons bear- 
ing sea-nymphs in their arms and blithe little 
cupids circling like birds with their arrows ever 
ready for use. The goddess is borne triumphantly 
along on a shell drawn by dolphins which she 
gently guides with silken reins. Her purple 
robe and golden hair flutter lightly in the wind. 
Her exquisite beauty and grace and the exu- 
berance of life in her companions mark this fresco 
as one of Raphael's finest efforts in the repro- 
duction of Greek mythological stories. 



[28] 



V 

FLORENCE— UFFIZI 

T^LORENCE is the city of pictures. This 
*■■ fact warns us that self-restraint is very 
necessary. One of the greatest temptations of 
sightseers when in the midst of a treasure-house 
of gems is to include too much at the outset. 
Often you will see systematic people begin at 
the right or the left as they enter a room and in- 
spect each work in order. By the time a score 
of pictures have been examined the sightseer has 
lost all power of discrimination and a Raphael 
masterpiece receives no more attention than a 
Carlo Dolci commonplace. Such picture-study 
is absurd. 

Let us go in the morning directly to the Uffizi 
Gallery. Never is the allurement greater to 
look at everything at once than in this veritable 
riot of colour and subject. We will not stop, 
however, until we come to Albertinelli's "Salu- 
tation" (Fig. 17), the greatest example of that 
favourite subject. The question naturally arises, 
"How was it possible for a man whose life was 
so full of irregularities to paint a picture so full 

[29] 



WHAT PICTURES TO SEE 

of beauty and devoutness ? " When once seen 
this picture is never forgotten. One finds satis- 
faction in every detail. Look at the exquisitely 
painted flowers in the foreground, the simple 
white handkerchief over the head and shoulders 
of Elizabeth, the ample folds of the blue robe 
encircling the form of the Virgin, the delicate 
tracery of the supporting pillars and the tiny bit 
of hill country on either side of the arched por- 
tico. How simple are the figures of Mary and 
Elizabeth! The severely plain garments have 
no ornaments to detract from the symbolic colours 
of blue and red for the Virgin, and green, yellow, 
and white for the prospective mother of John 
the Baptist — heavenly love and creative power 
in the one, and hope, fruitfulness, and chastity 
in the other. The artist has well expressed the 
submissive yet dignified attitude of Elizabeth 
and Mary's sweet acknowledgment of the adora- 
tion of the older woman. The power of a mas- 
ter's hand is felt in this masterpiece. 

To fully appreciate Albertinelli's strength in this 
picture one must take into account the wonderful 
influence exerted over him by his Christian friend, 
Fra Bartolommeo. That sincere monk, the de- 
voted follower of Savonarola, held the rollicksome, 
heedless Albertinelli within certain bounds; 
but even his influence could not keep the artist 
from throwing off the restraints of art for the 

[30] 




Fig. 17. The Visitation. Albertinelli. Uffizi Gallery, Florence. 







f 









Fig. 18. Madonna of the Harpies. Andrea del 
Sarto. Uffizi Gallery, Florence. 



FLORENCE 

free and easy life of a tavern-keeper at one of 
the gates of Florence. This erratic change in 
his mode of life did not mar their friendship, 
however, for when the end came to the reckless, 
self-indulgent Albertinelli, it was the gentle, 
loving and protecting arms of Fra Bartolommeo 
that held him when he breathed his last. Who 
knows but what the erring soul gained admission 
to heaven through the prayers of his Christian 
friend ? 

In the " Madonna of the Harpies" (Fig. 18), 
we see Andrea del Sarto at his best; and yet 
how that best was marred by the beautiful, 
thoughtless, selfish wife who was the model of 
this painting and the idol of the artist's heart. 
No one will deny that nature gave to that arro- 
gant woman a face almost divine in its loveliness; 
there is little wonder then that Andrea saw in it 
the Holy Mother. But even he drops the eye- 
lids over the brilliant eyes to harmonize the fault- 
less features with the deep religious sentiment 
he has breathed into the composition. The sweet 
simplicity of arrangement and the exquisite har- 
mony of colour have given a dignity and religious 
tone seldom equalled in works of art. Very 
beautifully the rich red robe and tender blue 
mantle contrast with the pink baby flesh of the 
lovely Child! and the mellow white of the veil 
against the glorious auburn hair of the Mother 

[31] 



WHAT PICTURES TO SEE 

softens and purines every feature. So like a statue 
in pose is this detail of the Mother and Child 
that it could be reproduced in the purest Carrara 
marble. The "Harpies" on the pedestal have 
given the name to the painting. 

Some one in writing of Andrea del Sarto (1486- 
1531) said that he either came too late or too soon 
to be placed among the greatest artists of his 
time. Is this statement true or was Browning 
right in the words he puts into the artist's own 
mouth 'in the closing lines of his poem, "Andrea 
del Sarto"? The artist is pleading with his 
wayward, headstrong wife, and, as though sum- 
ming up the whole matter, says : 

" . . . Had the mouth there urged 
God and the glory! never care for gain. 

'Live for fame, side by side with Angelo! 
Raphael is waiting: up to God, all three! 
I might have done it for you. So it seems: 
Perhaps not. All is as God over-rules.' " 

No saint in the calendar of the Roman Church 
has a more authentic history than St. Sebastian, 
and never has the saint been more beautifully 
portrayed than by II Sodoma (Fig. 19). This 
picture is not only this artist's masterpiece, but 
one of the great paintings of the world. The 
classic beauty and noble bearing of the young- 
man relieve the subject of all disagreeable effects 

[32] 



FLORENCE 

because of the mode of his martyrdom. Some- 
how the physical comeliness of the saint has been 
enhanced by the look of spiritual suffering on 
the upturned face. Every gallery in Europe has 
a painting of St. Sebastian, and in most of the 
pictures the arrows are so much in evidence that 
one's flesh shrinks and recoils with pain at the 
thought of the cruel wounds, but II Sodoma has 
overcome the physical idea of pain by captivating 
the mind with beauty of form and spirit. What 
a rare bit of nature-study is the landscape stretch- 
ing away in the distance, and how fitting is the 
classic ruin in the foreground. 

The story of Sebastian, who was born of noble 
parents in a.d. 288, is the history of the persecu- 
tion of the early Christians in Rome. He was a 
favourite guard of the Emperor Diocletian, but 
when his conversion became known, and no per- 
suasion could win him from the New Faith, the 
emperor ordered him put to death by shooting 
with arrows. When this torture failed to end 
his life, he was beaten to death and his body 
thrown into the Cloaca Maxima (a deep aque- 
duct). But his faithful friends found the body 
and buried it tenderly in the Catacombs. The 
arrow among the heathen was an emblem of 
pestilence, so ever since St. Sebastian's martyr- 
dom, he has been the saint who could allay a 
pestilence. 

[33] 




Fig. 19. St. Sebastian. II Sodoma. Uffizi Gallery, Florence. 



WHAT PICTURES TO SEE 

As we turn to Botticelli's "Coronation of the 
Virgin" (Fig. 20), we are struck at once with the 
note of melancholy that pervades the picture. 
Here is a new type of Madonna, thoughtful and 
sad, and at times almost brooding. She shows 
none of the joy of motherhood, but seems rather 
to have a foreboding sense of coming suffering. 
She is here represented as writing the word 
•'Magnificat," and we fancy that we can hear 
the solemn tones of the organ mingling with the 
angel voices. The innocent, thoughtful faces of 
the lovely children (two are said to be the Medici 
children) redeem in a measure the sad face of the 
Mother. The spirit of mystery hovering over 
the group is intensified by the winding stream 
gliding through the stretch of country; now it 
is visible in the foreground, then hidden by hill 
and dale, only to come to view again in the dis- 
tance beyond. Do we not hear it murmur 

" For men may come and men may go, 
But I go on forever," 

referring to the immortal Child in the lap of the 
Holy Mother? 

Ruskin says of Botticelli: "He was the only 
painter of Italy who understood the thoughts of 
the heathen and Christian equally, and could in 
a measure paint both Aphrodite and the Ma- 
donna." Let us now look at his "Birth of Venus," 

[34] 




Fig. 20. Coronation of the Virgin. Botticelli. Uffizi Gallery, Florence. 



FLORENCE 

his most celebrated work next to "Spring," in the 
Academy (Fig. 30). Notice the sober tone of 
the picture, the exquisite grace of the nude figure, 
and the timid, bewildered expression on the newly 
created goddess. See how lightly and softly the 
breezes caress the shrinking form and play with 
the tresses of hair still damp from the sea's 
embrace. 

The Uffizi is rich in masterpieces from Botti- 
celli's brush. Look at his " Judith with the Head 
of Holof ernes." The dignity and grace of that 
proud woman convince one that she was indeed 
the handmaiden of God to deliver the chosen 
people from the hateful Babylonian general. 
Read the story in the Apocryphal book of Judith, 
and notice how perfectly Botticelli has understood 
that historic incident. 

Another one of his famous pictures is " Cal- 
umny." The subject was worked up from 
Lucian's description of a celebrated painting of 
the same subject by the Greek artist Apelles. 
The Greek painting grew out of a trouble caused 
by a jealous artist who slandered Apelles and 
turned his patron, King Ptolemy of Egypt, 
against him, and Botticelli's picture seems to 
have come from a like reason — he being accused 
of heresy when absent from Rome. Calumny 
is the female figure in the middle of the front 
who is dragging a youth, Innocence, by the hair 

[35] 



WHAT PICTURES TO SEE 

and presenting him to King Midas, the monarch 
with the ass's ears. Hypocrisy and Treachery 
accompany Calumny, and in front of them is 
Envy, a hideous man in brown. Suspicion and 
Ignorance are whispering to King Midas, and the 
old hag at the left is Falsehood, the mother of 
Calumny. The only attractive figure is naked 
Truth, a lovely young girl who is appealing to 
heaven. When the pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood 
started in England fifty years ago, Botticelli again 
came into his own in the art world, and his popu- 
larity continues to increase with the passing 
years. 

Vasari says of Raphael's " Portrait of Julius 
II.," "the sight of it made one tremble." This 
portrait (Fig. 21) is a replica from the original 
cartoon, made with coal and chalk, now in- the 
Corsini Palace, Florence. A replica of a picture 
is a second painting (sometimes more) of the same 
subject by the original painter and, of course, 
may vary from the first work, as suits the artist's 
fancy. Only the original artist can make a 
replica — other artists make copies. This Uffizi 
portrait is considered the best of all the likenesses 
of Julius II. Raphael has chosen the moment 
when the old Pope was deep in thought, but his 
quiet is full of restless energy. The red cap and 
violet velvet cape seem to intensify the severe 
features of the irascible old Pontiff ; see how well 

[36] 




Fig. 21. Pope Julius II. Raphael. Uffizi Gallery, Florence. 




Fig. 22. Knight of Malta. Giorgione. Uffizi Gallery, Florence. 



FLORENCE 

the rings on his nervous, expressive hands mark 
his high office. Such a man was indeed the match 
of Michael Angelo, but only as Greek meets 
Greek. In the Pitti Gallery is another replica 
so nearly equal in power to this portrait that some 
authorities prefer it. 

Another painting of Raphael's, "The Madonna 
of the Goldfinch," is of peculiar interest to us, 
as it marks the first definite change of his manner 
from that of his master Perugino. The history 
of this picture is unusual. It was painted on 
wood, for Lorenzo Nasi, in 1507, as a wedding- 
gift from Nasi to his bride. On August 9, 1548, 
the house of Lorenzo Nasi, in Florence, was de- 
stroyed by the sinking of the hill of San Giorgio. 
The "Madonna of the Goldfinch," buried in the 
ruins, was broken into many pieces, but Batista, 
the son of Nasi, pieced together the fragments 
with so much skill that the injury is scarcely 
noticeable. 

The "Knight of Malta" (Fig. 22), considered 
by most critics to be a genuine Giorgione, is a fine 
example of the Venetian school. Mr. Timothy 
Cole in the notes on his engraving of the Knight 
says: "No artist knows better than Giorgione 
how to captivate the mind and hold the imagi- 
nation with so few means." How simple the 
notes of contrast in this masterpiece! The cross 
of Malta glimmering on the black overgarment 

[37] 



WHAT PICTURES TO SEE 

gives richness to the material ; the dark chestnut- 
brown hair and beard heighten the purity of the 
face, and the olive-wood beads strengthen the 
partly closed fingers. The softness and richness 
of the blended colours are due to the skill of a mas- 
ter mind. 

Another portrait of singular beauty is Titian's 
" Flora." This lovely woman is supposed to be 
the daughter of the artist Palma Vecchio, and 
tradition suggests that she was the mistress of 
Titian. That story may be truth or fiction, but 
the picture itself testifies that we have before us 
one of the loveliest ideals of womanhood. This 
woman, far removed from human frailties, is as 
pure as a lily. No ornaments have been used to 
heighten nature's handiwork. The fair face is 
crowned with a wealth of golden hair, and the soft 
outlines of the rounded neck and curving shoulders, 
revealed by the natural lowness of the chemise, 
speak only of the charm of a perfect woman. 
This is one of the daintiest of Titian's creations. 



[38] 



VI 

FLORENCE— PITTI GALLERY 

WE can go directly from the Uffizi to the Pitti 
Gallery by crossing the river Arno on the 
Ponte Vecchio. This quaint old bridge, designed 
by Taddeo Gaddi in the fourteenth century, has 
a connecting corridor, built on the second story 
by Vasari in 1564, which unites the two palaces. 
It is a ten minutes' walk from one gallery to the 
other, so if time is very precious, the two collec- 
tions may be seen in one forenoon. 

Of all the masterpieces in the Pitti Gallery, 
yes, even in the world, possibly the best loved 
is Raphael's "Madonna della Sedia." Before 
looking at it, however, let us go to Titian's 
"Magdalene" (Fig. 23), while the Venetian school 
is still fresh in our minds from seeing Giorgione's 
"Knight of Malta" (Fig. 22). Titian, in 1531, 
when fifty-four years old, painted the " Magdalene " 
for Francesco Maria II., the Duke of Urbino. 
The picture portrays a woman in the full maturity 
of a perfect physical development. The penitence 
of the courted beauty is manifested only in the 
upturned face and dropping tear. If Titian is 

[39]' 



WHAT PICTURES TO SEE 

following the tradition that the Magdalene, the 
sister of Martha and Lazarus, had lived, since 
the death of her parents, in the world of fashion 
and pleasure, until touched by the Saviour's love, 
then the physical perfection of this handsome 
woman is in perfect harmony with her past life. 
Certainly this magnificent specimen of -mature 
womanhood exemplifies in every detail the results 
of unceasing care of a devotee of fashion for the 
personal charms. Flesh, nails, eyebrows, and 
eyelashes have been observed very carefully and 
unceasing pains have been bestowed upon the 
glorious hair. Here is one of the most perfect 
examples of "Titian hair" — a colour so like 
strands of gold that the sunlight once caught in its 
meshes is held captive while it sparkles and 
glistens from strand to strand. No wonder this 
picture has been reproduced again and again. 

Titian's "La Bella," in the Pitti, is another 
likeness of the Duchess of Urbino. It is well 
to compare this with the portrait of her in the 
Uffizi ; and also note how similar to both of these 
portraits is the face of the "Venus," in the same 
gallery. 

We will now turn to the " Madonna della Sedia," 
or "Madonna of the Chair," as it is more famil- 
iarly known. Hawthorne calls this masterpiece 
"The most beautiful picture in the world, I am 
convinced." Never before nor since has any artist 

[40] 




Fig. 23. Magdalene. Titian. Pitti Gallery, Florence. 




Fig. 2i. Madonna of Grand Duke. Raphael. Pitti Gallery, Florence. 



FLORENCE 

represented the motherhood of the Virgin so fully. 
Raphael seems to have comprehended the very 
heart of mother-love in the tender caresses of 
this human mother; while the closely clinging 
children appeal to us because of their innocent, 
confiding dependence! Most attractive is that 
familiar old legend about the origin of the picture. 
We need only the outline of the story to bring it 
to mind again. Raphael, it is said, sketched the 
picture on a barrel head, and the barrel was made 
from an old oak. This oak-tree and the mother 
of these children were called " daughters" by 
an old hermit in the mountains. The hermit 
had prophesied that both of his " daughters" 
would become famous some day, and we can 
truly say that he foretold correctly. Who knows 
but what Raphael did really see this mother just at 
nightfall sitting by the open window crooning over 
her baby-boy and gently quieting her elder born 
who had come seeking comfort after a day of 
restless play? The artist instinct would very 
quickly see the universal motherhood in such a 
family group. Into the face of the holy Mother 
and divine Child he has put a divinity that defies 
description, but holds our love and devotion. 
This painting, entirely by his own hand, was 
made for Pope Leo X., or some of the Medici, 
while he was at work in the Vatican between 
1 510 and 1 5 14. The records prove that it was 

[41] 



WHAT PICTURES TO SEE 

exhibited in the "Tribuna" of the Uffizi Gallery 
as early as 1589. 

Another of Raphael's Madonnas, entirely by 
his own hand, is "Madonna del Granduca " (Fig. 
24). It was painted in 1504 when he went to 
Florence for the first time, just after he left the 
studio of Perugino, and was at one time owned 
by the artist Carlo Dolci. Next we know it 
belonged to a poor widow who sold it, at the end 
of the eighteenth century, to a picture-dealer for 
about twenty dollars. Still later it again changed 
hands and came into the possession of the Grand 
Duke of Tuscany, Ferdinand III., for the mag- 
nificent sum of eight hundred dollars. Ferdi- 
nand, who reigned from 1781 to 1824, thought 
so much of the picture that he always took it 
with him wherever he travelled, and the Grand 
Duchess, his wife, is said to have offered prayers 
to it when she wished for the birth of a son. 

The purity and simplicity of this Madonna 
and Child show Raphael's deep religious feeling 
without the least sign of effort. The Virgin has 
the bashful timidity of one first awakened to 
motherhood, and the Child looks straight at us 
with the wide-open eyes of babyhood. Both 
are charming as the expression of a religion that 
all can understand. 

We must not fail to look at "Pope Julius II.," 
as a companion of the replica in the Uffizi. And 

[42] 




Fig. 26. The Fates. Michael Angelo. 
Gallery, Florence. 



Pitti 



9 £ I 



Fig. 27. The Concert. Giorgione. Pitti Gallery, Florence. 



FLORENCE 

now we will go to "Pope Leo X.," another very 
great example of Raphael's power in portraiture. 
The Pontiff is the principal figure in the picture 
— on the left is Cardinal Giulio de' Medici (after- 
ward Pope Clement VIL), and on the right 
Cardinal Luigi de' Rossi, the Pope's secretary. 
Leo X. was a man singular in features and char- 
acter; his short-sighted eyes, swollen nose, puffy 
cheeks and chin, and protruding lips indicate 
an easy, soft good-nature when submission to 
his will was absolute, but of a cruel, unreasoning 
temper when roused by opposition. 

A curious story is told of a copy of this painting. 
Pope Clement VII. presented the original to the 
Duke of Mantua, and told Ottavio de' Medici 
to deliver the picture. But Ottavio was loath 
to have so precious a gem leave Florence, so de- 
layed sending the painting upon one pretext and 
another. In the mean time he had a copy made 
by Andrea del Sarto and when it was finished 
sent that to the Duke instead of the original. 
The deception was complete until years afterward 
when Vasari, who knew about the copy, unde- 
ceived the Duke by showing him Andrea del 
Sarto's name under the frame on the edge of the 
painting. The copy is now in Naples. 

Another very popular picture in the Pitti is 
Romano's "Dance of the Muses" (Fig. 25). 
Romano was the most celebrated of Raphael's 

[43] 



WHAT PICTURES TO SEE 

pupils, but he did not reflect the master's glory; 
in fact, he was the beginning of the end of the 
Italian Renaissance. The " Dance of the Muses" 
is full of poetic motion, as seen in the rhythm 
and swing of the circling muses as they join hands 
with Apollo. The fluttering dainty robes, and 
the fair hair of the lovely maidens so classically 
coiled about their shapely heads, are all in full 
harmony with the scene. Romano has also given 
a most pleasing colour-scheme in the delicate tints 
against the gold background. 

What a strange contrast, however, is this poem 
of motion to Michael Angelo's "Fates" (Fig. 26). 
Here are dignity and self-restraint in every line of 
the figures. And why not? Are not these an- 
cient dames weaving the thread of life? This 
picture was probably painted by Rosso, but de- 
signed by Michael Angelo. An interesting story 
is told of the origin of the picture. An old woman 
annoyed the great master during the siege of 
Florence in 1529, by insisting that her son should 
fight for the city. Michael Angelo had his re- 
venge by using her as the model for all three 
Fates and making them witches instead of young 
and beautiful girls as the Greeks had always 
represented them. He has given to each figure the 
symbol of her office in weaving the web of life — 
Clotho holds the spindle, Lachesis twists the thread, 
and Atropos has the shears ready to cut it. 

[44] 



FLORENCE 

Authentic Giorgiones are rare, but critics pro- 
nounce "The Concert" (Fig. 27), in the Pitti, 
one of his masterpieces. The identity of the 
three men has long been under dispute. Some 
authorities name Luther in the centre, Melanc- 
thon on the left, and Calvin on the right. But 
as the first two do not resemble other portraits 
of them in the Uffizi, and also as the artist died 
when Calvin was only two years old, this identity 
does not seem correct or indicate that the painting 
is a genuine Giorgione. It matters very little 
just who the men were ; the artist has made them 
men in the true sense of the word. The power 
with which those delicate fingers grasp the keys 
and the keen sensitiveness of the sharp features 
show a man of thought and understanding. Such 
a man could have resisted the authority of the 
Pope even to rising from his knees on the Scala 
Santa and exclaiming, "The just shall live by 
faith." 

Another group in character-study worthy of 
our greatest admiration is Lorenzo Lotto's "Three 
Ages of Man" (Fig. 28). The influence of Gior- 
gione is largely in evidence in the painting, but 
Lotto has preserved his own individuality in de- 
lineating personal traits. Could anything be 
finer than the heedless look of boyhood so plainly 
marked on the young lad's face? He is giving 
respectful attention, but his thoughts are with 

[45] 



WHAT PICTURES TO SEE 

the game in prospect. The thoughtful earnest- 
ness of the younger man is not simply that of a 
teacher imparting a special lesson, but of one 
seeking to awaken the thinking-powers of his young 
charge. The veteran at the left has the scars 
of many battles, and his steady eye and firm 
mouth tell of strength gained in winning them. 
This man lived and still lives; we feel that he is 
summing us up as we stand before him. But it 
is not only in giving individual traits that Lotto 
has excelled in this painting. Look at the skil- 
ful handling of colour and the careful placing of 
the figures. The boy's black cap and hair are 
in contrast to the white beard and bronze flesh 
of the old man, and this sombre tone is again 
offset by the soft, rich cardinal gown of the man 
and the purplish maroon of the boy's dress. 
Look at the blending of the younger man's chest- 
nut-brown hair with the deeper brown of the back- 
ground, and note how the flesh of that expressive 
hand glows with health against Nature's own 
green on the overgarment! The whole picture 
is so full of thought, simply expressed, that one 
feels its influence without analysing its cause. 

In Andrea del Sarto's "Holy Family" (Fig. 29), 
we again see the face of his coldly beautiful wife. 
But now he has transformed it in the simple, 
womanly mother sitting on the floor with a darling 
baby-boy leaning against her. There is something 

[46] 



















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Fig. 28. Three Ages of Man. Lorenzo Lotto. Pitti Gallery, Florence. 




Fig. 29. Holy Family. Andrea del Sarto. Pitti Gallery, Florence. 



FLORENCE 

winning about this family group. The aloof, 
tender look of the aged Elizabeth as she supports 
the little 4 St. John against her knees is full of 
proud motherhood; how different is her expres- 
sion of satisfied longings from the expression of 
surprised wonder in the whole attitude of the 
youthful Mary. The softened outlines, deli- 
cately blended colours, and perfect grouping make 
this a pleasing and satisfying picture. Andrea 
painted it for Ottavio de' Medici about 1529, and 
Ottavio was so pleased with the work that he 
doubled the artist's price for it. Andrea was so 
accurate in the technical part of his art that he 
was often called "Andrea the Faultless." Even 
the great Michael Angelo wrote of him to Raphael: 
"There is a little fellow in Florence who, if he 
were employed as you are upon great works, 
would make it hot for you." 



[47] 



VII 

FLORENCE— ACADEMY 

WHILE the Academy in Florence is the place 
to study the growth of Italian art, still it 
has a few masterpieces that even the hurried 
sightseer must not omit. Among these is Botti- 
celli's "Spring" (Fig. 30). Unfortunately we 
do not know the artist's interpretation of this 
allegory, but since the picture was painted for 
Cosmo de' Medici, it is fairly certain that the central 
figure, with the white dress and red drapery, is 
a portrait of one of the Medici family, and that 
the other figures represent, allegorically, various 
virtues attributed to them. Beginning at the 
extreme right of the picture, the first figure may 
be the spirit of the wood or the North Wind ; 
he seems to be retarding Spring, who is fleeing 
from the blast issuing from the bulging cheeks. 
The flowers dropping from the mouth of Spring 
are falling on Flora's dress where they mingle 
with a profusion of other blossoms. This figure 
of Flora has often been designated as "Spring," 
but that cannot be true, as her flowers are mostly 
roses and her decorations those of the mature 
summer time. She is the crowning glory of 

[48] 




Fig. 31. The Baptism. Verrocchio. Academy, Florence. 



FLORENCE 

the picture. How dignified and full of healthful 
strength is her every motion ! She must represent 
some very special attribute of the great ruling 
family of Florence — possibly the awakening Re- 
naissance. At least she stands for the perfection 
that comes after the winter's rest and spring's 
rebirth. The little Cupid above the central figure 
is the apex of the composition and on either side 
are the balancing figures. It is possible that 
Cupid stands for the personal fascination of the 
charming woman who is really the principal 
theme of the picture. The three graces at the 
left represent the individual charms that Nature 
has given her, and Mercury, to the left of the 
graces, might well indicate the marvellous pros- 
perity of the Medici princes. 

There is less of that peculiar melancholy in 
this picture than is usual in Botticelli's paintings. 
In this he has come too close to Nature and her 
haunts to brood over man's shortcomings. One 
feels the breath of the woods steal through those 
straight trunks playing among the branches 
and fluttering the loose robes and straying tresses 
of the dancing figures. See how accurately he 
has shown us the flowers that bloom in the wood 
and field; we can readily distinguish the con- 
volvulus that clambers over every rock and fence 
and the daisies that bloom at our feet. Such loving 
thought for the great out-of-doors brings us very 
[49] 



WHAT PICTURES TO SEE 

close to the heart of this Italian artist of the fif- 
teenth century. 

Verrocchio's "Baptism" (Fig. 31) is a picture 
of peculiar interest, for it is the only authentic 
example of this artist's painting (he was a sculp- 
tor) and because his famous pupil, Leonardo da 
Vinci, worked on it too. The painting is of 
unusual merit in its anatomical accuracy. The 
muscles and veins in the emaciated figure of St. 
John are portrayed with a fidelity to nature 
that shows a thorough understanding of the 
human body. There is no beauty in the gaunt 
figure of the Baptist nor in the heavier one of 
the Saviour, but one feels a reverent awe before 
them. 

The part of the painting attributed to Leo- 
nardo is the angel at the left with his back to us. 
Both angels are beautiful in their fresh innocence, 
and it is not at all to the discredit of the older 
man that his pupil painted one of them. Ver- 
rocchio's power as an artist was so great that even 
the more noted pupil did not detract from his 
fame. The records say that at the time Leonardo 
entered his studio Verrocchio was "then the most 
famous artist in Florence." The strong, masterful 
composition of the "Baptism" is sufficient proof 
of this statement. The arrangement of the pic- 
ture is unusual, although the subject was a com- 
mon one, and has served as a model for many 

[50] 




Fig. 32. The Assumption. Perugino. Academy, Florence. 



FLORENCE 

later artists. Through one of those strange lapses 
in the whereabouts of masterpieces, this picture, 
painted for the monks of Vallombrosa, was for- 
gotten in their monastery until 1812. 

In the " Assumption of the Virgin" (Fig. 32), 
Perugino's tendency to " solitariness" in placing 
his figures is most pronounced. This is especi- 
ally true of the group of saints at the bottom of 
the picture. Each figure is so distinct in his 
pose and attributes that he could be separated 
from the others with no loss of individual traits 
or in the interpretation of the composition. If 
you will turn to Perugino's "Christ Giving the 
Keys to St. Peter" (Fig. 7), in the Sistine Chapel, 
you will see how distance in the landscape is 
intensified by the wide, open verandas, and now 
in the " Assumption" the same is true in the 
glimpses of the far-stretching country caught 
through the spaces between the solitary figures. 
We dislike the sentimental tilt to the head and 
the pathetic expression in the soft eyes that be- 
came a mannerism with Perugino, yet he was an 
artist of no mean merit. We are bound to ac- 
knowledge, after all is said to his credit, that as 
the teacher of the great master, Raphael, he will 
best be known. 

As we stop before Fra Filippo Lippi's " Coro- 
nation of the Virgin" (Fig. 33), the loveliness of 
the picture captivates us at once. He has given 

[51] 



WHAT PICTURES TO SEE 

exquisite quality to his scheme of colour in the 
glowing flesh, fluffy golden hair, and delicately 
tinted draperies. Lippi's peculiar habit of paint- 
ing all his figures with short necks sets us to 
wondering if that was the beauty charm of Lucre- 
tia Buti, the novice who stole his heart. At 
least this pronounced physical feature is the very 
opposite of the long slender necks so character- 
istic of the Byzantine style. The intense love 
of a beautiful face led Lippi to choose. his models 
for Madonnas and saints from the lovely young 
girls of the period. But he never deteriorated 
into the love of beautiful form alone, for purity 
and sweetness are the attributes that distinguish 
his women. Lippi was a monk from circum- 
stances, not from choice; hence the broken vows 
of the beautiful Lucretia and himself were for- 
given by the Pope and their marriage sanctioned. 
Browning's description of the jolly monk in his 
poem, "Fra Filippo Lippi," is an amusing and 
charming life of the artist. 



[52] 



VIII 

FLORENCE— CHURCHES AND PALACES 

TN Fra Angelico's paintings, the spiritual in art 
*■■ reached its highest development. His Ma- 
donnas, saints, and angels are all from the heav- 
enly country with no stains of sin on their gar- 
ments and no possibility of sinning in their 
hearts. To see him at his best we must go to 
San Marco where he dwelt with his brother 
monks of the Dominican Order, and where he 
decorated the monastery cells with his brush. 

In his own cell is the " Madonna of the Star" 
(Fig. 34), a painting so full of spiritual fervour that 
one can well believe it was painted under the direct 
inspiration of prayer. There is no form under the 
ample blue robe of the Madonna, and no soft, 
plump body of babyhood in the divine Child, but 
the tender caress of the mother and the sweet 
nestling of the little one speak directly to the heart. 
Fra Angelico continued to use the gold back- 
ground, and long, slender figures of the East, 
but he put into the formless figures the spirit of 
humanity that came from his own great love of 
mankind. He did not advance the art of paint- 

[53] 



WHAT. PICTURES TO SEE 

ing over Giotto, a hundred years before, but he 
did advance the Christian religion with his art. 

Over the entrance door to the hospital for way- 
farers in San Marco, is " Christ as a Pilgrim 
Welcomed by Two Dominican Monks," or 
"Christ on His Way to Emmaus" (Fig. 35). 
This picture is a most impressive "Welcome," 
inviting all into the presence of the Master. 
The Christ is very human in his attitude of will- 
ingness to be entertained by these Preaching 
Friars; he wears the short rough garment of 
the pilgrim while his companions have the usual 
white robes and outer black cloak of the Order. 
Again, the form of the hgures counts for nothing, 
but the spirit of true sincere piety breathes from 
every line. This is one of Fra Angelico's finest 
frescos (the "Madonna of the Star" is painted 
on wood). As we go from cell to cell in this 
old monastery of the Dominicans and look at 
the simple scenes so full of spiritual truths painted 
on the walls of each, we do not wonder that the 
artist's companions called him "Angel Brother." 

This monastery of San Marco is doubly 
dear to us, for here Savonarola had his cells, 
and on the wall of one of them is his portrait 
attributed to his devoted disciple, Fra Bartolom- 
meo (Fig. 36). That strong, homely face so 
stamps itself upon our memory that we can never 
forget it. We are glad to believe that Fra Bar- 

[54] 




Fig. 34. Madonna of the Star. Fra Angelico. San Marco, Florence. 




Fig. 35. Christ and Disciples. Fra Angelico. San Marco, Florence. 




Fig. 36. Savonarola. Fra Bartolommeo. San Marco, Florence. 



FLORENCE 

tolommeo painted this face, for who else could 
have portrayed so lovingly the rugged features 
of the great reformer! No wonder that this man, 
Savonarola, had the courage of his convictions, and 
was able to refuse the magnificent Lorenzo absolu- 
tion, even if he was a Medici. 

Now we will go to the Riccardi Palace where 
the great Lorenzo de' Medici was born. Here 
is the marvellous Medici Chapel decorated by 
Benozzo Gozzoli. Wonderful in colour and ar- 
rangement is the fresco of the "Journey of the 
Magi," that covers its walls. Even the " Angel" 
detail (Fig. 37) gives us a little idea of the gor- 
geousness of the whole. The title of the fresco 
is a misnomer, for the real subject is a Florentine 
pageant in which are represented portraits of 
members of the leading families of the city. 
The chapel probably had no window when it 
was decorated, but the door must have been in 
place, for the artist has painted one of the horses 
with the forepart on one side of the door jamb and 
the hindpart on the other. The angels are beau- 
tiful young girls, but they have none of the heav- 
enly sweetness of those of the "Angel Brother." 
Benozzo shows considerable skill as an animal- 
painter. His horses are imposing, high-stepping 
fellows, well fitted to the proud bearing of their 
riders. Many princes of the Medici family can 
be singled out of the procession as it winds down 

[55] 



WHAT PICTURES TO SEE 

the mountain side. The meeting-point was at 
the manger, the part that was removed when the 
window was inserted. The ingenuity and skill 
with which the artist has varied the company in 
its onward march towards the goal give us keen 
pleasure as we follow the various groups. 

Another artist of the fifteenth century whose 
tendency was to make his religious pictures a 
Florentine portrait gallery, is Ghirlandajo. We 
will go to Santa Maria Novella to see in the Choir 
his series of frescos of New Testament scenes. 
True, these paintings are not all attractive as 
decorative pictures, according to our ideas to- 
day, but it is a good plan for us to see what the 
people of that time liked for decoration. And 
really, as we look at some of the details — "The 
Salutation of the Virgin and Elizabeth," for 
instance, — we are bound to be interested in those 
stately and dignified women in the foreground 
and in the city stretching away in the distance. 
It is said of Ghirlandajo that his sense of por- 
traiture was so pronounced that sitting by the 
window he would sketch with accuracy some per- 
sonal feature of the passer-by so that none could 
mistake the person. This talent was highly 
appreciated by the Florentines. They wanted 
their portraits painted, and here was a man ready 
to satisfy them. Look particularly at the tall, 
straight dame at the right of the saluting group. 

[56] 



FLORENCE 

She is the celebrated beauty, Ginevra de' Benci, 
one of the Medici and Sassetti families. Her 
rich gold-brocaded dress impresses us a little as 
hanging from "clothes-pegs," as Ruskin says, 
nevertheless we feel that a peculiar and intimate 
personality clings to her. 

In the Spanish Chapel of this same church is 
the famous fresco of "Religion and Philosophy" 
(Fig. s&). In the upper part of the painting sits 
St. Thomas Aquinas with the angel virtues cir- 
cling around him. At his right and left are the 
prophets and saints, while the overthrown heretics 
are fallen prostrate at his feet. Below in the 
niches, Philosophy is personified by fourteen 
women — seven stand for sacred and seven for 
the natural sciences. At the feet of each woman 
is the representative of her special science: thus, 
Astronomy has Zoroaster; Geometry, Euclid; 
Logic, Aristotle; and Music, Tubal-Cain. In 
the latter the figure of Music is particularly fine. 
This fresco is attributed to Taddeo Gaddi, yet 
he may have only designed it, and left the exe- 
cution to Simone Memmi and others. We are 
convinced that whoever planned the theme was 
thoroughly conversant with church doctrines and 
the scientific development of the time. 

Very often there are isolated pictures that it is not 
wise to overlook even if the time is limited. One of 
these is Andrea del Sarto's "Last Supper," in the 

[57] 



WHAT PICTURES TO SEE 

refectory, or dining-room, of the old monastery of 
San Salvi (Fig. 39). Lanzi says of the soldiers 
who besieged Florence in 1529, that "after demol- 
ishing the belfry, the church, and part of the 
monastery (of San Salvi), they were astonished 
on beholding this 'Last Supper,' and had no 
resolution to destroy it"; others believe that 
Michael Angelo saved the fresco when he had 
charge of the fortification of the city. 

In this fresco Andrea has just missed the highest 
conception of the "Last Supper," but he can be 
forgiven as it is Leonardo da Vinci who alone 
excels him. As we enter the long room where the 
fresco is painted, the scene at the other end k 
almost startling in its realism. Nothing could 
be finer than the grouping of the figures, the ar- 
rangement of the draperies, the disposal of lights 
and shadows, and the soft, beautiful colours. It 
is when we look for the intense religious feeling 
that characterises each disciple in Leonardo's 
"Last Supper" (Fig. 53), that we recognise the 
weakness of "Andrea the Faultless." There are 
dignity and decorum in the men gathered around 
that table, but depth of conviction is lacking. 

It would scarcely be wise to visit Florence and 
not see "Dante's Portrait," in the National Mu- 
seum of the Bargello (Fig. 40). The fresco in 
which it is found was painted by Giotto at the open- 
ing of the fourteenth century. Shortly afterward 

[58J 




Fig. 40. Dante. Giotto. Bargello, Florence. 



FLORENCE 

the chapel was changed into a two-story building 
by a dividing floor and ceiling. The whole was 
whitewashed and the upper part used as a prison. 
For centuries the frescos were hidden, but in 1840, 
through the efforts of an English artist and one of 
our own countrymen, the chapel was reclaimed 
and the frescos again brought to light. The 
portrait of Dante in the " Paradise," on the south 
wall, may have been made from life as the poet 
and artist were warm friends; at any rate it 
corresponds to the mask that has been recognised 
by artists for ages as Dante's. Do not fail to 
ask the custodian of the Museum for " Dante's 
Portrait," or you may miss it in the multitude 
of treasures in the Bargello. 



[59] 



IX 

VENICE— ACADEMY 

THE first picture that arrests the attention 
upon entering the Academy, Venice, is 
Titian's " Assumption of the Virgin" (Fig. 41), 
one of the great masterpieces of the world. The 
sensation produced on one by this marvel of sim- 
plicity and skill is indescribable. A master of 
unquestioned power has brought forth that glo- 
rious colour, harmony of composition, rapture of 
sentiment, and withal restraint in handling. At 
first the feeling of awe inspired by the picture 
taken as a whole overpowers the appreciation 
of its detailed parts. The eye simply follows 
unconsciously the centralising tendency that cul- 
minates in the Virgin. There seems to be no 
means used in leading the mind to contemplate 
the central thought. But if we study the up- 
lifted faces and hands of the apostles, the clouds 
and angels circling toward the Virgin, and the 
downward gaze of the Father, as He waits in the 
sky to receive the Heavenly Queen, some of the 
artist's secrets are revealed. Not a line is omitted 
in welding each detail into a perfect whole. Look 

[60] 




Fig. 41. The Assumption. Titian. Academy, Venice. 




Fig. 42. Presentation in the Temple. Titian. Academy, Venice. 




Fig. 43. Supper in the House of Simon the Pharisee. Veronese. Academy, Venice. 



VENICE 

at the strength and intense feeling of those aston- 
ished apostles. The figures are so individual 
that a character-study could be made of each man ; 
yet they are subordinate to the main theme and 
detract nothing from it. How sweetly human 
are the baby cherubs! One could smother them 
with kisses save for the fact that their office as 
heavenly attendants claims them. The fore- 
shortening of this multitude of children is the more 
marvellous because the pose of each figure is so 
natural and childlike. 

Possibly it is well to go hence directly to Titian's 
" Presentation in the Temple" (Fig. 42), even 
though it is several rooms away. Titian has 
never surpassed this picture in thought and 
feeling, brush work, technical skill, and colour 
secret. The subject deals with sacred persons 
but it is not a religious picture. He represents 
the presentation of the little Virgin as described 
in "Mary," a book of the Apocrypha. The story 
says that when the Virgin Mary was three years 
old her parents, Joachim and Anna, brought her 
to the temple of the Lord with offerings. "The 
temple being built in a mountain, the altar of 
burnt-offering, which was without, could not be 
come near but by stairs (fifteen in number). The 
parents of the blessed Virgin and infant Mary 
put her upon one of these stairs; — the Virgin of 
the Lord in such a manner went up all the stairs 

[61] 



WHAT PICTURES TO SEE 

one after another, without the help of any to lead 
or lift her that any one would have judged from 
hence that she was of perfect age." 

The picture, painted in fresco, is on a wall 
parallel to a flight of entrance steps, thereby giv- 
ing us the impression that we have come from the 
temple where the little Virgin is going. The scene 
is entirely Venetian in people and architecture, 
yet there is perfect harmony between setting and 
subject. The hill country in the distance is prob- 
ably an idealised bit of Cadore landscape near the 
artist's native place. The old woman sitting by 
the steps with her basket of eggs, and the child 
and dog in the middle foreground also serve to 
give a natural and human touch to the scene. 

Another picture with Venetian setting is Vero- 
nese's "Supper in the House of Simon the Phari- 
see" (Fig. 43). The painting was made for the 
refectory of a Dominican monastery, Venice, 
where it filled one end of the long dining-room 
and seemed to be a continuation of the real tables 
of the monks. What a princely banqueting- 
chamber such over-hanging arches, marble bal- 
ustrades, and faultless perspective would make 
of the plainest eating-hall! Veronese painted 
several of these biblical banquets where the scene 
formed an integrant of the whole room. This 
picture glows with colour and light and is full of 
human interest, but there is little of the spiritual 

[62] 



VENICE 

element; in fact, Veronese was so fond of adding 
animals and grotesque accessories that the In- 
quisition considered him sacrilegious and ordered 
him to erase them. The artist defended himself 
by saying they were used simply as spots of colour 
and he left in a sufficient number to show his 
tendency in that direction. 

We would not appreciate the full glory of Vene- 
tian art were we to omit Giovanni Bellini, yet 
his "Madonna and Child with two Saints" (Fig. 
44) has not the grandeur of composition of the 
later school. It was in Giovanni, however, that the 
young Titian, his pupil, found a sympathiser in 
his love for colour. Bellini originated a type of 
Madonna so individual that once seen there is 
no mistaking who painted her. Although rather 
conventional she is human and her divine Child 
is a real baby. Her sad face is not morbid, but 
is rather the expression of one who accepts sor- 
row without complaint. She has a certain beauty 
of girlhood, softened and deepened as by an inner 
consciousness of coming trials. 

In the painting of "Christ and the Adulteress" 
(Fig. 45), we have one of Tintoretto's best works. 
So prodigal of his art was this artist that it is 
said of his pictures, "They are fairly rotting on 
the walls of Venice to-day." He was ready to 
paint classic myth and sacred story and in each 
he put the people of Venice as he saw them. The 

[63] 



WHAT PICTURES TO SEE 

"Adulteress" is a typical voluptuous woman of 
the sixteenth century, yet by placing her in a 
biblical setting with Christ as her judge, he has 
softened the purely physical beauty of form and 
given her a subtle charm impossible to resist. 
The artist has skilfully avoided a sense of crowd- 
ing by giving a touch of vulgar curiosity to the 
people gathering to see an offender brought to 
"justice." That Tintoretto knew humanity is 
plainly shown in the eager faces of the accusers. 
The colours are warm and rich, and the contrast 
of lights and shadows on the faces and garments 
is wonderful. 

Let us look at Moretto's interpretation of the 
"Supper in the House of Simon" (Fig. 46), as 
compared with Veronese's. Moretto came from 
Venetian territory but he probably never went to 
Venice. Yet his keen sense of proportion and 
perspective, and his sensitive insight into charac- 
ter, gave him an equal standing with those great 
masters of the Queen City. 

In this picture he has chosen the simple story 
of Christ and the woman as told in St. Luke 7 : 36. 
Simon has been complaining within himself, "This 
man, if he were a prophet, would have known who 
and what manner of woman this is that toucheth 
him: for she is a sinner." The moment caught 
in the picture seems to be the instant when Jesus 
has finished the story of the two debtors and has 

[64] 




Fig. 44. The Madonna ana Child. Bellini. Academy, 
Venice. 




Fig. 45. The Adulteress. Tintoretto. Academy, Venice. 




Fig. 46. Supper in the House of 

Simon. Moretto. Academy, 

Venice. 



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Fig. 47. St. Ursula and her Father. Car- 
paccio. Academy, Venice. 



VENICE 

pointed to the woman, saying, " Simon, seeth 
thou this woman?" Moretto's manner of telling 
the story is dignified and masterly. Nothing 
is lacking in the technic of the composition; the 
balance in arrangement is excellent, the contrast 
in light and shade good, and the colour rich and 
harmonious, with that "silvery" quality so pe- 
culiarly his. Then, too, his delineation of the 
emotions of the various actors in the drama is 
marvellously true to life. There is Simon stern 
and unyielding, the servant curious and inter- 
ested, the woman grief -stricken and unworthy, 
while the Saviour, mindful of the needs of each 
heart, is benignly sympathetic in his appeal and 
desire to pardon. 

The series of pictures by Carpaccio tells the 
story of St. Ursula. Carpaccio loved to tell a 
story and he could do it well. Legend says that 
St. Ursula was a Breton maiden of royal Chris- 
tian parents — beautiful, wise, and very devout. 
When she was sought in marriage by the young 
prince of England, she asked of him three things. 
First, she must have ten noble maidens as her com- 
panions and each one must have a thousand virgin 
attendants; second, she must have three years 
to visit holy shrines; third, the prince and his 
followers must be baptised. The requests were 
granted, so the story runs, but sad to relate, 
St. Ursula and her eleven thousand maidens were 
[65] 



WHAT PICTURES TO SEE 

massacred at Cologne, and to-day in that city 
their bones are preserved in a chapel of the church 
of St. Ursula. This is the quaintest and most 
improbable of the early church stories, but it is 
fascinating in its very naivete. Two artists of 
about the same period have interpreted the story 
for us: Hans Memlinc, in Belgium, and Car- 
paccio, in Venice. The illustration (Fig. 47) 
shows St. Ursula relating her dream to her father 
and urging him to let her carry out her pilgrimage. 
This picture gives us a glimpse of the costumes 
and home decorations of the artist's time. St. 
Ursula is the patron saint of young girls and of 
all women who educate and care for girls. 

If we were taking up the Venetian artists in 
the Academy chronologically, we would begin 
with the Bellinis, then Carpaccio, and on to Titian. 
Veronese and Tintoretto came a little later and 
as friends were often together. 



[66] 



X 

VENICE— CHURCHES AND PALACES 

TN the Artillerist's Chapel of the church of 
* Santa Maria Formosa, Venice, is Palma 
Vecchio's masterpiece, "St. Barbara" (Fig. 48). 
St. Barbara is the patroness of soldiers, and in 
this picture Palma has given her all the courage 
and patriotism that stand for a true warrior. 
As a maiden of noble birth the artist knew just 
how to enhance her inheritance with garments 
suitable in colour and material. The soft brown 
underdress falling to her shapely feet is deepened 
in tone by the rich red robe thrown lightly over 
arms and knee. The glistening crown on the 
auburn hair denotes her exalted position, and 
the white scarf knotted in her hair and gleaming 
on the warm flesh of neck and shoulders marks 
her as a conqueror through faith. 

St. Barbara, born a.d. 303, was the daughter of 
an Eastern nobleman. She was so beautiful, 
and so dear to her fond father that he shut her 
up in a tower where she spent her time studying the 
stars and heavenly bodies. At length she became 
convinced that the worship of idols was wrong. 

[67] 



WHAT PICTURES TO SEE 

When, in the course of time, she heard of the 
Saviour, she became converted, and to acknowl- 
edge her faith ordered the attendant workmen 
to make three windows in her tower. When her 
father came for his accustomed visit she replied 
to his question concerning the windows: "Know, 
my father, that through three windows doth the 
soul receive light — the Father, the Son, and the 
Holy Ghost; and the three are one." The angry 
father condemned her to death and finally be- 
headed her himself. While legend has filled gaps 
in this story the main part is history. St. Barbara 
is always represented with a tower as one of her 
attributes. 

The walls of the Doges' Palace form a vast 
picture gallery of fresco paintings, but the real 
gems are in the Anticollegio, or waiting-room, 
where are four paintings by Tintoretto. Although 
this artist has covered hundreds, yes thousands, 
of square feet in this palace, yet none of the 
pictures holds us as these in the waiting-room. 
He has here entered so completely into the spirit 
of the classic myths that he compels us to follow 
him into that immortal world. As we look at 
"Minerva Driving Away Mars" (Fig. 49), we 
actually feel the push of the dainty hand against 
the intruding god. Certainly the god of war 
has no right in this sacred grove, even though he 
be in love with Venus. Never before had human 
[68] 




Fig. 48. St. Barbara. Palma Vecchio. Church 
of Santa Maria Formosa, Venice. 




Fig. 49. Minerva. Tintoretto. Doge's Palace, Venice. 



VENICE 

flesh been transferred to canvas while still glow- 
ing with warmth and palpitating with life as in 
these pictures. We fairly draw long breaths of 
delight, unmindful that it is art and not life that 
has charmed us. In the "Marriage of Bacchus 
and Ariadne," Tintoretto has reached the climax — 
the picture is beautiful in the superlative degree. 
Ariadne has been left desolate on the Island of 
Naxos, where Theseus, who abducted her, has 
abandoned her. Bacchus sees and loves her, and 
comes up from the sea offering her the marriage 
ring. Venus descends from the blue sky and 
crowns her with a circlet of stars. One must 
really see this quartet of glory to understand the 
possibilities of the painter's art. 

While under the influence of Tintoretto let us 
return to the Academy and look at another pic- 
ture of the II Furioso painter. The one that rep- 
resents the "Miracle of St. Mark" (Fig. 50) is 
often called the "Miracle of Tintoretto," so auda- 
cious its conception. The colour is a riot of rain- 
bow tints with a golden-yellow atmosphere filling 
the middle "as if a topaz had burst there." The 
legend explaining the scene says that a certain 
Christian slave serving a pagan nobleman dis- 
obeyed his master by continuing to worship at 
the shrine of St. Mark. Having been condemned 
to torture and death in the public square, the 
multitude were dumbfounded to see St. Mark 

[69] 



WHAT PICTURES TO SEE 

himself coming from the heavens to the slave's 
assistance. The bonds broke asunder and the 
instruments of torture dropped to pieces. The 
exquisite delineation of facial expression in the 
astonished crowd of people is alone sufficient to 
raise the painting to its exalted place among 
masterpieces. Another one of these frescos of 
equal merit — they were all painted by Tintoretto 
for the Scuola di San Marco, Venice — is in the 
Brera, Milan. 

We again see this great master in profusion 
in the church of Madonna dell' Orto, where he 
is buried, but the principal picture for us to see 
here is Cima's "St. John the Baptist and Four 
Saints" (Fig. 51). Cima, a direct follower of 
Bellini, shows in this picture the early and effec- 
tive use of high arches to frame and separate 
the distant landscape from the figures in the front. 
He has not reached the artistic excellence of 
Veronese in this direction, as shown in the lat- 
ter's "Feast of Simon" (Fig. 43), yet his perspec- 
tive is good and his originality of arrangement 
decidedly in advance of his contemporaries. The 
detail work on the capitals and the drawing of the 
old tree with its scraggly branches are both nat- 
ural and artistic. The four saints with the 
Baptist are SS. Peter and Mark on the left and 
SS. Paul and Jerome on the right. 

One of the largest and most beautiful churches 

[70] 




Fig. 51. St. John the Baptist and Other Saints. Cima. 
Madonna dell' Orto, Venice 




Fig, 52. 



Madonna of the Pesaro Family. Titian. Church of 
Santa Maria dei Frari, Venice 



VENICE 

in Venice — the Frari — has Titian's wonderful 
masterpiece, "The Madonna of the Pesaro Fam- 
ily" (Fig. 52). This picture raised the artist 
to the position of dictator in the art world. In it 
he perfected the combination of grand architec- 
ture with the simple devotional spirit of a grateful 
family. The secret of this achievement is sim- 
plicity. Those marvellous columns soaring into 
the very clouds are as severe in structure as 
snow-clad mountains seen from a distant plain. 
The throne of the Virgin at the entrance to the 
spacious temple is without a single ornament 
save the neutral-tinted rug hanging from it in 
straight lines to the steps below. The colour of 
the garments is mostly a harmony of reds carried 
from side to side with consummate skill. The 
rich blue of the underdresses of the Virgin and 
St. Peter serve as a connecting link with the 
tender blue of the Venetian sky, seen through the 
soaring pillars. The composition is unique in 
arrangement, yet the unusual position of the 
Virgin and Child is so perfectly balanced by the 
standard of the church that one scarcely notes 
the reason for the change. Since this is a pre- 
sentation picture in which Jacopo Pesaro, Bishop 
of Paphos, is offering thanksgiving for victory, 
it is only natural that other members of the Pesaro 
family should be present. At the foot of the throne 
kneels Jacopo with clasped hands raised to the 

[71] 



WHAT PICTURES TO SEE 

Virgin who bends gently toward him, between 
them is St. Peter who has turned from his reading 
to look at the kneeling bishop. At the left of the 
picture kneel Benedetto Pesaro and his family. 
The childlike glee of the infant Christ, as he 
pulls at the white veil of his Virgin Mother and 
kicks happily at St. Francis, is very human and 
natural. The two cherubs bearing the cross on 
the floating cloud above seem to have drifted 
into the portico of the temple to linger only for 
a moment. 

Since writing the above the bombs of the in- 
vading Hun in the world's greatest war threat- 
ened destruction to Venice and Palma Vecchio's 
masterpiece, " St. Barbara." Fortunately the 
Venetian authorities removed this precious altar- 
piece from Santa Maria Formosa just in time to 
save it from the bomb that struck the church, 
destroying many frescos and crashing through 
the Artillerist's chapel where this priceless 
treasure had had its home since about 1520. 
Palma died in 1528 when only forty years old. 



[72] 



XI 

MILAN— CHURCHES AND BRERA 
GALLERY 

T)ROBABLY no picture in all the world is 
-*■ so well known as Leonardo da Vinci's 
"Last Supper" (Fig. 53). It is painted on the 
end wall of the refectory of the old Dominican 
monastery of Santa Maria delle Grazia, Milan. 
Ruined as the picture stands to-day, it is still 
the most stupendous monument of that Blessed 
Scene ever conceived by the mind of man. When 
Professor Cavenaghi carefully restored the fresco 
in 1908, he brought to light several important 
facts. First, Leonardo did not use oil paints on 
plaster, as has been supposed, but water colours, 
probably experimenting with this medium, for 
deterioration began shortly after the picture was 
finished. Second, the early restorers have left 
untouched the heads and hands of the figures, 
excepting the head of the apostle Philip — the 
third to the Saviour's left, so, though dim and 
marred, they are the master's own work. Third, 
the work done by the early restorers was excellent. 
As we study the grand personality of the apostles 

[73] 



WHAT PICTURES TO SEE 

I shall quote what has already been written in 
my book, "Pictures and their Painters." Pos- 
sibly Christ has just uttered the words: "One of 
you shall betray me." Beginning on the left of 
the fresco, Bartholomew has just risen from the 
table in consternation; next to him James (the 
less), with his hand on Peter's arm, is mildly 
inquiring; Andrew with uplifted hands exhibits 
astonishment ; then Peter, eagerly leaning toward 
St. John, with his hand on his shoulder, expresses 
suppressed excitement; in front of Peter, leaning 
on the table with the bag clutched in one hand 
and the other stretched out toward the Master, 
is the traitor Judas, his whole manner full of 
opposition; John with downcast eyes and folded 
hands waits with perfect confidence; on the right 
of the Saviour, James (the greater) with arms out- 
stretched shows distress and dismay; back of 
James is Thomas with uplifted finger ready for 
aggressive action; Philip, rising with his hand 
on his heart, looks worried and troubled; next 
to him is the elegant Matthew, his arms pointing 
toward the Saviour, while he turns to the other 
disciples with a look of questioning wonder; 
Thaddeus with one hand uplifted has a face full 
of horror; and Simon spreads his hands out with 
stern disapproval. 

The photographs of the "Last Supper" best 
known to us are taken from an engraving made 

[74] 




Fig. 53. The Last Supper. Leonardo da Vinci. Santa Maria delle Grazie, Milan. 




Fig. 54. Head of Christ. Leonardo da Vinci. 
Brera Gallery, Milan. 




Fig. 55. Marriage of the Virgin. Raphael. Brera Gallery, Milan. 



MILAN 

by Raphael Morghen, an Italian, during the last 
of the eighteenth century before the awful havoc 
made on the fresco by the French soldiers at the 
time Napoleon invaded Italy. 

Leonardo was the first artist to place all the 
apostles on one side of the table, the previous 
custom being to put Judas opposite the others ; and 
no one ever before made such a character-study 
of the apostles. So careful was Leonardo that 
only after the closest study of the individual men 
did he conceive and portray in head and hands 
the personality of each apostle. The story is 
told that after two years' work on the fresco there 
were still two heads to paint — Christ and Judas. 
Month after month passed and the picture was 
not finished, and the monks were becoming im- 
patient. The prior, greatly vexed, protested again 
and again, and finally the annoyed artist calmly 
said to him, "If you will sit for the head of Judas, 
I'll be able to finish the picture at once." 

Dr. Muthersays: "As a pictorial achievement 
— in the manner in which the figures softly dis- 
solved in space and the light streamed through 
the window into the half-darkened hall — the 
'Last Supper' must have been a revelation, al- 
though at the present time this can no longer be 
seen, but only felt." 

Leonardo's "Head of Christ" (Fig. 54), in the 
Brera Gallery, was the sketch for the Master in 
[75] 



WHAT PICTURES TO SEE 

the supper group. It was only after weeks of 
thought that he sketched this marvellous head, and 
even then the eyes so baffled him that he dropped 
the lids, adding an almost superhuman glory to 
the beautiful face. There is plainly little doubt 
but what Leonardo painted the head of Christ 
in the large fresco very hastily. It certainly lacks 
the tenderness and pathos of the precious model 
sketch. The latter, with Raphael's Christ in the 
"Transfiguration" (Fig. u), and Michael An- 
gelo's Christ in the "Last Judgment" (Fig. 5), are 
considered the great portraits of the Saviour, but 
of the three, Leonardo's Christ comes the nearest to 
our hearts. Here is the human Jesus who ate 
and talked and worked with his disciples. 

Raphael's "Marriage of the Virgin" (Fig. 55), 
in the Brera, is particularly interesting as one 
of the first examples of his work. He was still 
in his teens and doubtless as yet a pupil in Peru- 
gino's studio. The picture shows the influence 
of the master especially in the tilt of the heads and 
the rather insipid sweetness of the faces. We 
also recognise the similarity of arrangement to 
Perugino's "Giving Keys to St. Peter" (Fig. 7), in 
the Sistine Chapel, but how different the contin- 
uity and balance of the composition. Here is 
no visible effort at space-filling or placing of the 
figures. The crowd in the foreground is a natural 
gathering of wedding-guests to witness the be- 

[76] 



MILAN 

trothal of loved ones. Raphael indicates very 
simply the old legend of the trial of the suitors 
by means of the budded rod held by Joseph and 
the impatient breaking of the wand by the dis- 
appointed lover. 

The spaciousness of the middle distance throws 
the classic temple in bold relief against the blue 
sky, adding greatly to the largeness and depth 
of the scene. The pyramidal placing of figures and 
objects seems to have been instinctive with Ra- 
phael, for from the beginning it characterised 
the pictorial balance of his works. 

In the fresco of "Finding the Body of St. Mark," 
now in the Brera Gallery, Tintoretto has por- 
trayed another of the numerous legends from the 
life and death of the saint. This is a companion 
picture to The Miracle of St. Mark, at Venice. 
For twelve years, it is said, St. Mark preached 
in Egypt and finally founded a church in Alex- 
andria. But the heathen, believing him a magi- 
cian because of his miracle-working powers, 
bound him at the feast of their god Serapis and 
dragged him through the streets of the city until 
he died, and immediately the murderers were 
destroyed by lightning. The mangled body of 
the saint was buried by devout Christians of 
Alexandria, and for eight centuries his tomb was 
held sacred. In a.d. 815 some Venetian mer- 
chants stole the body away and carried it to Venice 

[77] 



WHAT PICTURES TO SEE 

where the cathedral of St. Mark's was built for 
his tomb. 

Tintoretto's conception of the scene of finding 
the body of the saint is original and his interpre- 
tation of the event singular. The picture is keyed 
in a low tone; the upper part is a cool blue- 
grey, and the lower part soft, rich golden-brown. 
The long barrel-vaulted corridor seems to be a 
mausoleum with a series of sarcophagi, raised 
about eight feet from the ground, extending along 
the right side. The figure at the left, dressed in 
a blue underdress and a rather bright red cloak, 
is St. Mark himself with a halo around his head. 
His presence makes possible the identification 
of the body, but no surprise is evinced at his 
presence there in person. At the right, opposite 
the saint, is a demoniac clinging to a woman. 
The evil spirit is fleeing from his mouth in the 
form of smoke. The man who is holding the 
demented one may possibly have been one of 
the dead bodies restored to life by St. Mark. 
The body on the floor may be intended to replace 
that of the saint which the men are lowering from 
above — at least, the startled look of the woman 
and the gesture of the standing saint lead one to 
think so. We do not know just what legend Tin- 
toretto had in mind in this strange composition, 
but we do know that he has made a wonderful 
picture of the scene. 

[78] 



XII 



SEVILLE— CATHEDRAL, HOSPITAL AND 
MUSEUM 

AFTER visiting the picture galleries of Italy 
naturally we turn next to Spain where the 
art of her own sons, Velasquez and Murillo, 
is seen at their best, and stop at Seville, their 
birthplace. Only a few of Velasquez's works 
are in Seville and those mostly still life, but many 
of Murillo's pictures are in his native city. 

These two artists, Velasquez (i 599-1660) and 
Murillo (161 7-1682), were as unlike as two 
painters could be, yet the pictures of these men 
give a history of the Spanish people of the 
seventeenth century that no historian could 
have compassed in words. The Spanish court, 
people and church of that century live again 
for us in their pictures. 

In Seville are the best of Murillo's religious 
subjects — a best that never equalled his pic- 
tures of beggar boys; unfortunately not one of 
the latter is left in Spain. These masterpieces 
show the ubiquitous beggar boys the torment 
of the market places just as they afe today. We 

[79] 



WHAT PICTURES TO SEE 

see in the Cathedral, however, the same bewitch- 
ing child faces in his religious pictures. 

"The Guardian Angel" (Fig. 56) might well 
have been the leader of the marauding gang of 
"Beggar Boys and their Dog" (see Fig. 
47 in Famous Pictures of Real Animals), 
only now the spirit of mischief has become a 
gentle, loving one of helpfulness. Murillo's 
close and intimate understanding of the joys 
and sorrows among the flotsam and jetsam of 
Seville is the element that brings his religious 
pictures close to the heart of humanity. 

No church mandates could quench his warm 
human touch in portraying a saint, let the vision 
be ever so heavenly. We feel at once that in 
"The Vision of St. Anthony of Padua" (Fig. 
57), the heavenly visitors are after all flesh and 
blood babies which we could fold to our breasts 
with human ecstasy. As Murillo painted the 
picture just after the birth of his first child, his 
son Gabriel (1655), it may well be a real thanks- 
giving offering. 

This painting has had a curious history. The 
custodian of the Cathedral, nearly fifty years 
ago, discovered one morning that the figure of 
St. Anthony had been cut from the canvas. 
The Spanish Government sent photographs of 
the mutilated picture to all foreign representa- 
tives instructing them to search for the criminal 
— and the missing saint. This was November, 
1874. In January, 1875, a Spaniard offered to 
[80I 




Fig. 56. The Guardian Angel. Murillo. Cathedral, Seville. 




Fig. 57. The Vision of St. Anthony. Murillo. Cathedral, Seville. 



SEVILLE 

a New York art dealer a genuine Murillo which 
he claimed was a family heirloom. The dealer 
recognized it as the lost St. Anthony of the 
Seville Cathedral painting. The picture was 
tacked on an American stretcher but it had been 
badly damaged from being rolled up. The dealer 
paid the Spaniard for it and notified the Spanish 
consul. The man was arrested but, finding no 
definite proof that he was the thief, was freed. 
In October, 1875, the repaired painting was 
again placed in the Baptistry of the Cathedral 
amid great public festivities. 

The picture representing St. Anthony in his 
cell is the largest of Murillo 's paintings and in 
many ways considered his masterpiece in religious 
subjects. Never has he so appealed to our hearts 
as in these lovely babies drawn earthward by 
the consuming love in the great heart of the 
sainted man. 

St. Anthony, though a Portuguese by birth, 
for a number of years preached in the University 
of Padua (thirteenth century). When a very 
young man he decided to go to Morocco, just 
after the martyrdom of the first missionaries, 
to convert the Moors. Very shortly he was 
stricken with an illness that compelled him. to 
leave the country. A severe storm drove the 
ship to Italy. He found his way to Assisi where 
St. Francis was holding his first Order. The 
two young religious enthusiasts greatly helped 
each other. St. Anthony was sent on many 
[81I 



WHAT PICTURES TO SEE 

journeys to the Universities of Bologna, Paris 
and Toulouse. As a preacher to the people he 
was most helpful. His earnest, sincere admoni- 
tions and simple life deeply touched the hearts 
of his hearers. Of the many miracles — miracles 
illustrating some fundamental truth — one was at 
the funeral service of a rich young man. St. 
Anthony exclaimed in denunciation of his love 
of money. "His heart is buried in his treasure- 
chest; go seek it there, and you will find it." 
Sure enough the friends of the young man found, 
to their surprise, his heart in the money chest 
and that his heart was gone from the lifeless 
body. 

Murillo has a number of splendid ideal portraits 
in the Cathedral of men whose characters were 
the great moulding agents of Spanish history. 
No greater honor was bestowed on Murillo than 
his appointment to decorate the Capella Real, 
in the Cathedral, 167 1, to honor the canonization 
of King Ferdinand III — four hundred years 
after the death of the "Saint" as the king was 
called. 

The religious festival honoring this occasion 
was the greatest church function evef held in 
Seville, and we find in a memorial poem on the 
canonization of the new saint reference to 
Murillo's painting of him. St. Ferdinand suc- 
ceeded in driving out the Moors from Toledo, 
Cordova and Seville. Tradition says thousands 
of Moors were slain at the battle of Xeres and 
[82] 



SEVILLE 

only one Christian, one who had gone into battle 
refusing to forgive an injury. 

King Ferdinand one time answered, to those 
who urged him to tax his people to recruit his 
army and fill his empty treasury, "God in whose 
cause I fight will supply my needs. I fear more 
the curse of one poor old woman than a whole 
army of Moors." St. Ferdinand died as a peni- 
tent, a cord around his neck and a crucifix in 
his hand. 

We must stop at the Hospital for in it are some 
of the greatest of Murillo's masterpieces. Just 
after his work at the Cathedral he was appointed 
to decorate the altars in the church of the Hos- 
pital of San Jorge. There are eleven pictures 
in the series. Let us look particularly at ' 'Moses 
Striking the Rock" (Fig. 58), one of three of 
the series that are still in their original place. 
The other two are "The Miracle of the Loaves 
and Fishes," and "Charity of St. John of God." 
By far the most attractive and convincing figure 
in the " Moses " is the child on the horse at the left 
of the composition. The spontaneity of child- 
delight marks his expression and gesture and 
redeems in a measure the too evident pose of 
most of the recipients of the miraculous gift. 
One can scarcely imagine so tame a demonstra- 
tion from a thirsty people and especially a people 
who was almost ready to stone Moses because 
there was no water for them to drink. Their 
complaint was bitter as usual, as they said, 

[83] 



WHAT PICTURES TO SEE 

" Wherefore is this that thou hast brought us 
up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and 
our cattle with thirst?" (Ex. 17: 3.) 
' The restoration of the ruined Hospital of San 
Jorge was a thank offering of a profligate knight 
who was converted by a strange incident. One 
night when stumbling home from a debauch 
he met a funeral procession and going up to 
the torch bearer asked, " Whose body is that 
which you are carrying?" "The body of Don 
Miguel de Manara!" came the reply. To the 
horror of the profligate upon looking at the 
corpse he recognized himself. The next morning 
Manara was found insensible in a church and 
from that moment he was a changed man. 

In the Museum Provincial is another of Muril- 
lo's "St. Anthony and the Christ Child" (Fig. 
59) — in fact, Murillo painted a number of pic- 
tures of this saint. This one commemorates 
St. Anthony's sermon on the Incarnation in 
which he affirmed that the infant Saviour came 
down and stood on the open Bible before him. 
No baby could be more adorable than this lovely 
child. St. Anthony wears the brown Franciscan 
robe with the rope of the order around his 
waist. Lilies are his usual attribute. The ex- 
quisite baby flesh-tints and soft golden rays 
radiating from the little cherubs above tenderly 
caress the saint and his heavenly visitor. Never 
for a moment does Murillo in these pictures 
lose sight of the human love that binds the 

I 84] 




Fig. 59. St. Anthony of Padua. Murillo. Museum, Seville. 




Fig. 60. St. Joseph and Infant Saviour. Murillo. Museum, Seville 



SEVILLE 

heart of the saint to his earth-born children of 
faith. The heavenly vision coming down to 
St. Anthony is the force that holds his spiritual 
life close to the humdrum, everyday living of 
those around him. 

I know of no more humanly beautiful child 
in art than Murillo's "St. Joseph and the Infant 
Saviour" (Fig. 60), in the Seville Museum. 
How like the child is to your baby or mine when a 
pensive mood just for the moment has quieted 
the restlessness of babyhood. Many a father 
has drawn his little one very close, feeling that 
protective instinct which absolute confidence 
and helpless innocence brings to the heart. 
Murillo never portrayed a keener perception of 
fatherhood than in this picture. It is not alone 
the bond of perfect love that is emphasized but 
the humanly natural arrangement of the figures. 
The most natural impulse in life for the father 
is to pick up his toddling little one and stand him 
on something to bring him close to his heart. 
In this picture Murillo has stepped aside from 
the usual composition of religious scenes of the 
Christ child and his parents. The very unusual- 
ness of it is attractive. Then the exquisite 
contrast, seldom found in his pictures, in the 
somber coloring of flesh, turned back collar and 
robe of St. Joseph and the delicate skin and 
dainty dress of the child gives us a thrill of 
pleasure. 

[8 S ] 



XIII 
MADRID— PRADO MUSEUM 

THE Prado is a collection of masterpieces. 
No gallery in Europe has so many rare 
treasures unembarrassed by mediocre works. 
The principal cause of this unprecedented good 
fortune in collecting works of art is that the 
paintings were largely selected by connoisseurs. 
Velasquez was one of the collectors, for the 
royal families of Spain. But a circumstance 
equally fortunate is that most of Velasquez's 
own works are in the Prado — and what marvel- 
ous masterpieces they are! 

To know this Spanish master we must see 
him in his native country. Most naturally we 
turn first to "Les Meninas — The Maids of 
Honour" (Fig. 61), as no doubt it is the most 
widely known of all of Velasquez's paintings. 
Then, too, there is a peculiarly intimate warmth 
about the pictures that demands our attention 
at once like the personal charm of certain people, 
felt the moment they enter a room. We are not 
surprised to hear the involuntary question, 
"Where is the picture?" at the first glimpse 
of the group, for not life itself could be more 
[86] 




Fig. 61. The Maids of Honour. Velasquez. Prado, Madrid. 




Fig. 62. The English Dwarf and his Dog. Velasquez. Prado, Madrid. 



MADRID 

compelling in its appeal. No wonder the king- 
father, Philip IV, decreed it should be immortal- 
ized in paint. From the reflection in the mirror 
at the back of the picture it is evident that 
Velasquez was painting the king and queen 
when the little Princess Margarita entered with 
her suit and that at the royal request he sketched 
the group just as it stood. The artist himself 
stands by the large canvas at the left of the 
picture. 

This is one of the most satisfactory pictures 
in all art. Its simplicity is like the speech 
Daniel Webster made before the New England 
farmers, so perfectly understood that the orator 
ceased to be great to them, but let anyone try 
to imitate these masters either in paint or words 
— ah, there's the rub! The composition of the 
picture is simple and natural; not an artificial 
note mars the pleasure of the whole. We seem 
to enjoy the wee princess and her attendants 
with the royal parents and realize that the king 
and queen in the mirror and the man in the door- 
way are incidents in a real scene. The close 
attention of Velasquez and the answering smile 
of the tiny princess seem to make us party to the 
royal order. 

Velasquez struck the key note of modern art 
— truth in what he saw. His sincerity, steady 
commonsense and devotion to real nature so 
governed him that he never mistook creatures 
of his imagination as truth. He was an innovator 

[8 7 ] 



WHAT PICTURES TO SEE 

but unlike many moderns his idealizing powers 
were toward a truer understanding of the sur- 
rounding mediums that modify or intensify 
everything whether its life about us or within us. 
His manipulation of light, of air, of colour, is 
that of one living those elements and no inter- 
pretation of the human soul surpasses his mar- 
velous portraits. He uses no tricks and imagines 
no monstrosities. 

What a revelation of a human soul is in this 
" Portrait of Antonio el Inglese and His Dog" 
(Fig. 62). Certainly the man's body is a freak 
of nature but a very mild freak compared to the 
dwarfed soul of his royal master "Philip IV and 
His Dog" (Fig. 63). Even the dogs are conscious 
of the relative bigness or smallness of their 
respective masters. Doubtless there is a little 
of the coxcomb's love of dress in this pigmy 
big man, yet his quick detection of petty plots, 
intrigues and crooked dealings of the wily king 
and tricky courtiers made him a power at court. 
And what a superb picture it is! The brown 
embroidered doublet, its tint of gold set off by 
the white lace collar and cuffs ; the long jet locks 
with a subtle hint of nature enhanced, a foil to 
the keen black eyes and tawny skin of Spain, are 
all perfectly in accord with the dandy detective. 

As we turn to "/Esop" (Fig. 64), we feel at 

once the artist's deep understanding of the 

mainsprings in life. In this ideal figure Velasquez 

has given a philosopher who with simple truths 

[88] 




Fig. 63. Philip IV and his Dog. 
Velasquez. Prado, Madrid. 




Fig. 64. iEsop. Velasquez. Prado, Madrid. 



MADRID 

can confound the mighty. How guileless in 
pose and manner is this man looking out on his 
fellowmen. It would be easily possible for such 
a humorist to speak in fables so simple that the 
veriest rustic could understand yet the wisest 
could not gainsay. It matters little whether 
/Esop was one man or many or even a myth; 
someone at some time spoke those immortal 
fables and Velasquez has created a person 
equal to the task. The story of the lion and the 
mouse has greater significance after looking into 
the kindly humorous eyes of this thinker. 

In the "Surrender of Breda" (Fig. 65), we 
find Velasquez's own portrait in the man at the 
extreme right of the picture. There is something 
exceedingly personal in this scene for Velasquez 
opens his heart to us in the portrait of the great 
general, Marquis Spinola. Not often do men 
reveal their innermost love for men — a certain 
sacredness envelops it. Even here the shy 
reticence of an intense nature is shown in the 
tender portrayal of his friend. As the Marquis 
leans forward to receive the sword from the van- 
quished enemy he embodies the generous impulse 
of a noble soul. 

This victory was in 1625. Spain took the 
fortress of Breda in the Netherlands and the keys 
were delivered to General Spinola by Prince 
Justin of Nassua, but the Spanish occupancy was 
of short duration. As we look at the central 
figures of this historic scene, portrayed by the 
[89] 



WHAT PICTURES TO SEE 

Spanish master-painter, it is easy to understand 
why Spain succeeded for a time; and why, when 
the great Spinola died shortly after, Spanish 
power in the Netherlands began to wane. 

The spaciousness of the picture seems to grow 
under our eyes. It is scarcely credible that only 
a score of figures are represented for the number- 
less spikes stretching away in the distance give 
the impression of a vast army. Velasquez 
painted the picture for the palace Buen Retiro 
when nearly fifty years old, some time between 
1645 and 1648. The artist was born in 1599, 
three years after Titian's death. 

Velasquez painted "The Topers" (Fig. 66), 
for Philip IV, before he had seen the great 
masterpieces of Titian in Italy. "The Topers," 
"Surrender of Breda," and "The Tapestry 
Weavers" (Fig. 67), are three progressive periods 
of Velasquez's art. Each is a gem in its telltale 
characteristics of the master and each is immortal 
as a masterpiece in painting. 

"The Topers," painted about 1628, shows 
wonderful natural power of the artist in creating 
beings embodying certain traits and tendencies 
without resorting to caricature. His sense of 
balance was so delicate that he never erred by 
a hair's breadth in tipping it too far to carry his 
point. There is not the slightest hint of the 
vulgar in "The Topers," yet none could mistake 
that the least further indulgence would be disas- 
trous. Was there ever such colour! The full 

[90] 



MADRID 

light on Bacchus caresses the warm pink skin 
of the youthful god like a lover touching the 
cheek of his lady-love. And as though to intensi- 
fy the shell-like glow of the boy's flesh the dusky 
Spanish skin of the revellers shows up toughened 
and bronzed by wine and weather. 

Of all the gods none has a more fascinating life 
story than Bacchus (Dionysus). He was the son 
of Zeus (Jupiter) and Semele — the latter the 
granddaughter of Venus, who was the daughter 
of Zeus. As usual Juno (Hera), Zeus' wife, was 
jealous and soon did away with Semele. One 
could scarcely blame Juno for Zeus persistently 
fell in love with every pretty faced woman he 
saw. The little Bacchus was given to the Nysa- 
san nymphs to bring up and when he was grown 
he discovered the vine and how to extract wine 
from the grapes. This discovery displeased 
Juno and, to punish the audacious boy, she made 
him mad and sent him wandering over the coun- 
try. Rhea, the daughter of earth and heaven 
and the mother of Zeus, cured him and sent him 
forth through Asia to teach the people how to 
cultivate the vine. Thus began the use and abuse 
of the vine and its luscious fruit. Poor, innocent 
Bacchus! little he knew of the serpent hidden in 
the wine cup; yet from that day to this every 
orgy, whether it is a dignified Bacchanalia or a 
midnight carrousal, is given in his honour. The 
artists, at least, have persistently portrayed him 
in his pristine beauty and innocence. 

[91] 



WHAT PICTURES TO SEE 

"The Tapestry Weavers" (Fig. 67) is one of 
the latest of Velasquez's paintings. Never was 
there a more interesting composition. Such 
marvellous play of light and shade. A picture 
within a picture. On a raised platform some 
lady-sightseers examine a piece of tapestry 
hung on an end wall under an archway. The 
light and air illuminating and enveloping this 
scene pour in from a side opening. In front of 
these two scenes, in a dim workroom, are the 
weavers assorting, winding and otherwise pre- 
paring the threads for weaving. No single 
detail detracts from the harmony of the whole 
yet each is a perfect gem as a picture. Study the 
figure at the right. The abandon of the young 
woman is that of one thoroughly at ease with 
her work. And what a riot of colour! Only one 
to whom colour was a living, breathing presence 
could give to it the vitality of life that emanates 
from this picture. We seem to feel the elemental 
vibrations being set free as though we were 
party to the process in nature's own workshop. 
When we stop to think about it, what a strange 
arrangement for a picture. Yet how wonder- 
fully interesting. And all because a master 
eliminated and simplified until the final result 
was a masterpiece. 

Murillo, too, is well represented in the Prado. 
Compare his "Immaculate Conception" here 
with the one in the Louvre (Fig. 95). He painted 
a number of this subject but in none does he give 

[92] 



MADRID 

the virgin spiritual strength commensurate to 
her holy office as mother of our Lord. 

His " Children of the Shell" is a beautiful 
interpretation of child life; in "St. Elizabeth of 
Hungary," his portrayal of charity as an office 
of love is a splendid lesson to workers in like 
institutions, and in his treatment of "St. Anne 
Teaching the Virgin" he shows the wonderfully 
tender and sympathetic spirit of the true teacher. 



[93] 



XIV 
TOLEDO, MADRID, PRADO 

TO see El Greco (i548?-i6i4) at his best we 
will make a side trip to Toledo and visit his 
old home — an old rambling, low ceiling house now 
a museum devoted to the paintings of this master. 
There is something peculiarly fitting in Toledo 
as the home of El Greco. As his name suggests, 
he was a Greek, born in the island of Crete. 
His real name being Dominikos Theotokopuli. 
Much of his training was in Venice about the 
time of Tintoretto, but some authorities make 
him Titian's pupil. When he came to Spain 
and settled in the city, famous for its " steel 
blades," he somehow took on many of its charac- 
teristics. His figure pieces are veritable portraits 
of the men of his time with the settings true to 
the rugged uphill topography of Toledo. The 
strange elongation in bodies and faces of his 
figures seem to follow the age old stretching 
sword-flatness of the buildings clinging tena- 
ciously to their sidehill foundations. 

El Greco's masterpiece, " The Burial of Gonzolo 
Rinz, Count of Orgaz" (Fig. 68), is still in the 
church of Santo Tome. This painting is one of 

[94] 




Fig. 68. 



The Burial of Gonzolo Rinz, Count of Orgaz. 
El Greco. Santo Tome, Toledo. 



TOLEDO 

the best portrait galleries of Toledo in the time 
of El Greco. These men were well known 
citizens of the artist's day and he himself is one 
of the most interested participants of the ob- 
sequies. He is the sixth man from the left stand- 
ing with hands raised and eyes turned toward 
the young and beautiful St. Stephen — the scene 
on the bottom of St. Stephen's robe represents 
his being stoned to death. Now look carefully 
at El Greco for I am sure you will feel that this 
man could easily confound his too inquisitive 
questioners when he answered, "I am neither 
bound to say why I came to this city nor to 
answer the other questions put to me." 

What a splendid line of fine looking men El 
Greco has brought together. Each portrait is 
full of the vigour of life with decidedly marked 
originality stamped on face and posture. And 
yet the arrangement of the assembled mourners 
has no suggestion of being posed for portraits. 
And the face of the dead count, lifeless as it is, 
has no ghastliness of the corpse to mar the dignity 
of the set features. That face might be carved 
in ivory — its fine texture and rich creamy 
colour is that of some exquisite antique from the 
Orient. 

Again, note the division of the picture, and 
how closely the two parts are united by the 
raised head and expressive hands of the priest 
at the right. See how interesting El Greco is in 
his details. Look at the wings of the angels. 

[95] 



WHAT PICTURES TO SEE 

Were ever feathers painted more lovingly. One 
fairly feels the soft give of each tiny barb. 

But whether El Greco painted people in groups 
or singly he never failed to lay bare individual 
souls. The exterior may not attract us but we 
are held by the life within. In the " Portrait of 
Cardinal Tavera" (Fig. 69), we are conscious 
that a man of great power is before us. Homely? 
Of course he is! Yet we could scarcely turn 
away while he speaks. No doubt the artist has 
intensified the cardinal's features yet nothing 
of the absurd is in it. Like the wit of the humorist 
he plays with foibles without over stepping the 
bounds of human kindness. Cardinal Tavera 
is not a person, however, with whom El Greco 
would play false. Those keen, sensitive eyes 
penetrate motives too easily. That face indicates 
power as a reader of men. With the brain and 
eyes of an idealist his judgment is tempered by a 
common sense knowledge of life. No man with 
that nose and determined chin and a mouth so 
responsive could fail in learning heart secrets 
and dealing with them justly. 

The habit El Greco has of elongating his 
people is peculiar to say the least. The early 
Byzantine painters lengthened their figures to 
add dignity to them, but surely El Greco needed 
no such device in portraying his splendid Span- 
iards. In the hands of a lesser artist his method 
would have been absurd, but it exactly fits El 
Greco's subjects and, strangely enough, a natural 

[96] 




Fig. 69. Portrait of Cardinal Tavera. El Greco. Museum, Toldeo. 




Fig. 70. Portrait of a Man. El Greco. Prado. Madrid. 



MADRID 

figure would be the absurd one. This " Portrait 
of a Man" (Fig. 70), in the Prado, is another 
example of El Greco's power as a character reader. 
Here he has made it felt in the hand particularly. 
For some unexplained reason he failed to express 
either himself or the prince in the hand of Cardinal 
Tavera. Not so with this unknown man. That 
hand is as much a part of the intelligent under- 
standing of people and events as the eyes and 
mouth. Again we are impressed with the di- 
versity in natural traits that mark the men 
El Greco chose for his subjects. The artist's 
wide knowledge of men certainly points to a 
personal charm in his own manner that brought 
men close to himself. A keen reader of men 
understands the inner life and that only comes 
to those who reach the heart. 

To appreciate El Greco we need to study por- 
trait after portrait, just as we look at man after 
man in studying the temper of a crowd, then we 
realize how big the artist is in his conception of 
men. He no doubt was a marked figure in the 
city of Toledo, possibly because of his eccen- 
tricities, but the mark he left on the life of his 
day will live so long as art endures. 

Francesco Jos6 de Goya Lucient (1 746-1828) 
was a genius whose talents lay in many directions. 
Full of animal spirits, in a perfectly balanced 
body, his high-strung nature easily lent itself 
to the Spanish love of duelling where his sword- 
play brooked no rival. His love of adventure 

[97] 



WHAT PICTURES TO SEE 

would have been the undoing of a lesser genius — 
as it was, Goya paid dearly for his amusements. 
His numerous escapades kept the Inquisition on 
his trail forcing him to move from city to city. 
Finally he sought Italy under the guise of a bull- 
fighter, but even in Rome, while attempting to 
take a young girl from a convent, he escaped 
punishment only through the intervention of 
the Spanish ambassador. 

Goya's pictures, showing the life of the day — 
the games, the dances, the picnics, etc., — testify 
that through all his folly he fully appreciated 
the art of seeing undertones governing people 
and events. Nothing could represent overcoming 
court convention by love of gypsy lore more 
perfectly than this picture "El Cacharrero (The 
Pottery Seller)," in the Prado (Fig. 71). Quick 
to catch artistic value he vividly portrays scenes 
from national life with startling realism. Yet 
Goya is not simply a realist. His quick wit and 
keen sense of society frauds cut below the surface 
laying bare in his pictures ugly truths often to 
the chagrin of those in high life. Many times his 
freedom was at stake except that his charming 
manner and ability to lull any thought to the 
return of the aceticism of the Inquisition — so 
hated by court society — saved his head and made 
him a welcome adjunct at court. Spain, though 
on the edge of a revolution, was madly indulging 
herself under the decadent rule of Charles IV 
and Maria Louisa. 

[98! 




Fig. 71. The Pottery Seller. Goya. Prado, Madrid. 




Fig. 72. Queen Maria Louisa. Goya. _ Prado, Madrid 



MADRID 

Goya painted the " Portrait of Queen Maria 
Louisa" (Fig. 72) again and again. Sometimes 
she is standing before us, then on horseback 
or with her attendants. He shows the same 
gypsy-like abandon in those royal portraits that 
characterized the queen's private life, yet she 
forgave him everything, even his forsaking her 
for a younger woman, frankly admitting that 
she could not live without him. 

One would be dull indeed who could not 
read the signs of the time in Goya's works. He 
seemed literally called to the kingdom for such 
a time. One is not surprised that he took the 
oath of allegiance to Joseph Bonaparte nor that 
Ferdinand VII on his return to the throne 
(1814) said to him, "In our absence you have 
deserved exile, and more than exile, you have 
deserved hanging, but you are a great painter 
and therefore, we will forget everything." 

Goya drank the cup of life to the dregs — and 
the dregs were bitter indeed. He was married 
when very young to a wife who meekly bore him 
some twenty children, regardless of his unfaith- 
fulness to her. Of this progeny just one son, 
the father of "Mariano" (Fig. 73), lived to see 
the old artist die. As years went on all his suc- 
cess as an artist or his standing as a court favorite 
could not prevent his becoming perfectly deaf 
and almost blind, a consequence of his wild ad- 
ventures. The unsettled state of his beloved 
Spain, the loss of his family, and his own physical 

[99] 



WHAT PICTURES TO SEE 

infirmity filled the end of his life with tragedy. 
It was now that he turned to his little grandson, 
Mariano de Goya, as his comfort. At last with 
only this child, in 1827, he left his adored country 
and settled in Bordeaux, France. But the end 
was near, for in a year he died at the age of 
eighty, April 16, 1828. 

This portrait of Mariano is particularly valu- 
able as it is signed by the artist — "Goya to his 
grandson." {Goya a su nieto.) The picture is 
owned by the Marquis de Alcanices, in Madrid. 



[ 100] 




Fig. 73. Portrait of Mariano. 
Goya, Owned Privately. Madrid. 




Fig. 74. The Annunciation. Fra Angelico. Prado, Madrid. 



XV 

MADRID, PRADO 

AFTER seeing Fra Angelico at San Marco, 
Florence, we appreciate more than ever the 
wisdom of selecting "The Annunciation" (Fig. 
74), to represent him in the Prado. The child- 
like faith of the angel-brother, so genuine in its 
simplicity, is a constant reproach to credulity 
and unbelief. Those worldly-wise Medici poten- 
tates loved this God-inspired artist whose every 
picture was a prayer. Surely his sincerity and 
spiritual power helped, in a measure, to stay the 
gathering corruption in church and state. 

How perfectly this scene fulfils the simple 
Bible story. Mary sitting alone shows no con- 
fusion as the heavenly visitor appears before her. 
We can almost hear her say, "Behold the hand- 
maid of the Lord; be it unto me according to 
thy word." And how innately artistic the pillared 
portico; and how warmly human are the two 
people near by and the curious one in the back- 
ground. These people, intimate parts of the 
picture, are entirely oblivious to the spiritual 
import borne in on the girl sitting apart. This 
[101] 



WHAT PICTURES TO SEE 

pure minded artist-seer in his wisdom cut deep 
through formalities into the fundamentals. 

We are so accustomed to thinking of Raphael 
in terms of Madonnas and fresco paintings that 
often his marvelous portraits are overlooked. 
This would be impossible, however, with the 
"Portrait of the Cardinal," in the Prado (Fig. 
75). Here is a masterpiece by a master. The 
young ecclesiastical prince is worthy of the brush 
of this master-painter. No one came closer to 
the heart of young manhood in Rome than did 
Raphael. He was loved by prince and workman 
alike. Just to look into the face of this church 
dignitary gives one the keynote of Raphael's 
winning personality. At first we only feel 
quiet dignity radiating from the firm features 
and well poised body of the cardinal, then a 
subtle hint of personal love for the young painter 
steals from beneath his drooping eyelids and the 
suggestion of a smile hovers around his mouth. 
Only an intimate friendship — a Jonathan and 
David friendship — could have resulted in a 
portrait so filled with the warmth of the real self. 

Titian (1477-1576) and Charles V were such 
close friends that when the emperor rode out on 
horseback he placed Titian on his right hand and 
rebuked his jealous nobles by saying, "I have 
many nobles, but I have only one Titian." 

Naturally knowing the emperor so intimately 
Titian has not minimized the short spindle legs 
and deformed hips of "Charles V on his Horse" 
[ 102 ] 





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Fig. 75. The Cardinal. Raphael. Prado, Madrid. 




Fig. 76. Charles V on his Horse. Titian. Prado, Madrid. 



MADRID 

(Fig. 76), but emphasizing his sterling character 
has made him every inch a king. Titian, now 
over seventy, in the full vigour of his powers with 
a keen knowledge of life penetrates the under- 
lying motives governing the movements of the 
great ruler. Vividly he shows the waning 
energy of the worn king suddenly bursting forth 
under the incentive of the superb charger's 
response to the call to action. 

Now turn to the standing portrait of "The 
Emperor Charles V." A picture done when 
Titian was much younger, yet it is full of that 
same quality of psychological perception of the 
sitter's character. These two portraits reach 
the high water mark of portraiture. 

No gallery in Europe, not even in Venice, has 
a more splendid collection of Titian's works than 
the Prado. Many of the pictures are master- 
pieces and are examples representing the work 
of his whole life. He died at ninety-nine, leaving 
an unfinished canvas still wet from his brush. 

Correggio (1494?-! 534) was not a deep thinker 
but that he loved beauty and light for their own 
sake was never truer than in his " Touch Me Not " 
(Fig. 77), in the Prado. No hint of the Bible 
story is in the picture. The two beautiful beings, 
with the glorious morning light playing about 
them, awaken a thrill of joy because of their 
physical charms. Correggio revelled in the 
manipulation of light. No modern artist has 
made the quivering, vibrant atmosphere sing 

[103] 



WHAT PICTURES TO SEE 

more exquisitely as it plays over human flesh. 
The warmth of life glows in these figures. Mary 
Magdalene has the charm of a perfect flower 
caught in its dewy freshness. The Saviour 
might be an Apollo whose spiritual nature has 
for a moment impelled him to testify to his 
immortal origin. 

There is nothing irreligious about this picture, 
it is simply unreligious — a masterpiece beautiful 
to look upon. Very few of Correggio's Bible 
scenes have any religious significance. He was 
too much a child of nature to think beyond 
the joy of living. We respond to his art because 
our aesthetic sense seeks the beautiful whether 
it is nature or art. 

Now turn to Rubens. Was human flesh ever 
so luscious and full of the quivering thrills of 
health as in "The Three Graces" (Fig. 78)? 
No wonder his flesh tints were the envy of his 
time and the despair of the artist today. The 
soft skin glows and tingles as though the life 
blood were actually beating in the arteries and 
spreading itself through every tiny capillary. 
How did he do it? is the unanswered question 
of these three hundred years. 

Few artists were so privileged in life as Rubens 
(15 7 7-1 640). It is aptly said that "he knew 
when to be born, when to live, when to die." 
Every gift was his; superb as a courtier, un- 
equalled as a diplomat, and unrivalled as an art- 
ist. Health, wealth, position and untiring energy 
[ 104 ] 




Fig. 77. Touch Me Not. Correggio. Prado, Madrid. 




Fig. 78. The Graces. Rubens. Prado, Madrid. 



MADRID 

were his. His art is the product of a well balanced 
mind. Even those pictures teeming with im- 
petuosity show that the creative power back of 
them is of a perfectly trained athlete. 

Never was ripened fruit in its leafy bower 
more perfect in its fruitage than "The Three 
Graces." The central figure is the artist's second 
wife, Helen Fourment, and the other two are 
probably modelled after her. Exquisitely human 
they represent mature womanhood as a natural 
product of healthy growth. Their nude bodies 
are the temples of the living God; they stir our 
emotions as do luscious peaches or full blown 
roses. Rubens portrayed the human body with 
the realism of modern art, yet he was never 
vulgar. His realism was often gross and some- 
times coarse and repulsive — when his subjects- 
were gross and coarse — but his figures never 
make one blush because of their blatant naked- 
ness. Our artists do well in studying the modern- 
ity of Rubens — centuries do not change essentials 
in interpreting life. 

Van Dyck (i 599-1641) rarely attained such 
excellence in portraiture — prince that he was as 
a portrait painter — as he has in "The Musician" 
(Fig. 79). The man himself must have com- 
pelled close study for we are conscious that 
individuality is behind the mere technical skill 
of an instrumental performer. He plays as an 
adjunct in solving some problem; music ex- 
presses to this musician the harmonizing of 

[105] 



WHAT PICTURES TO SEE 

thought and action. He feels the joy of soul 
that is given to those rare mortals sensitive 
to nature's perfectly adjusted aesthetics. 

Van Dyck was quick to catch distinguishing 
traits of environment and heredity — no one 
could mistake a royal sitter from under his brush 
— but those traits were often mannerisms of 
court. Not so with this musician where he is 
interpreting character. That the man is skilled 
in music cult is only incidental to his being a 
man. 

Anthony Van Dyck was a pupil of Rubens. 
Early in his career he went to England and 
became court painter to Charles I. He filled 
this position with perfect ease and left a record 
of the family life of this ill fated monarch that 
supplements the written history of those trou- 
blous days. Van Dyck's talents did not measure 
up to those of his master, yet in his short life of 
forty-two years he contributed many works of 
no mean merit to the world's list of excellent 
pictures. He can not be classed with such giants 
in art as Michael Angelo, L. da Vinci, Titian, 
Rembrandt, Velasquez, Raphael and Rubens, 
but after all is said few painters excel him in 
excellence of work and fewer still in number of 
pictures of real worth. He does not belong with 
men of second rank; we assign to him a place 
of his own where he shines particularly in his 
portraits of royalty and "The Musician." 



1 06 




Fig. 79. The Musician. Van Dyck. Prado, Madrid. 



MADRID 

The " Betrayal of Christ," one of the early 
works of Van Dyck, is full of the Rubenesque 
life and strength which the younger painter un- 
consciously put into his works while under the 
influence of the great master. We get here some of 
the impetuous forcefulness that marked Rubens' 
cool calculations in a stirring scene. Also there 
is little doubt but that Van Dyck painted "The 
Brazen Serpent" while in the studio of Rubens 
although it has passed as the latter's work. We 
find in this picture a richness in colour notes 
that Van Dyck seldom attained in his later works 
and a certain haunting sense of light and shade 
flitting over the painting that add greatly to the 
mysterious religious fervour of the assembled 
multitude. These characteristics show plainly 
the influence of the master, yet Van Dyck has 
not lost his own distinguishing traits. 

In the various cabinets in the Prado are gems 
by the masters that we must not overlook. 
Here is Raphael's "Bearing the Cross (El Pasmo 
de Sicilia)," a very marked masterpiece by this 
master painter. Doubtless Raphael's pupils 
assisted in the execution of this picture — made 
originally for a church at Palermo— but this was 
not unusual, for no artist knew better how to 
incorporate a pupil's work without detriment 
to his own than Raphael. And probably his 
"Madonna della Rosa," in the same cabinet, was 
done with Romano. In fact the latter artist was 
so much like Raphael in his manner of work that 

[ 107 ] 



WHAT PICTURES TO SEE 

until recent years many of his pictures passed 
for Raphael's. 

Now turn to the "Holy Family," done by Ro- 
mano from Raphael's design. The painting was 
bought by Philip IV from the collection of Charles 
I, of England, for ten thousand dollars. Curious- 
ly enough Charles was so positive that it was a 
Raphael that he called it the "Pearl of his 
Raphaels." This accounts for its Spanish name 
"LaPerla." 

In the portrait collection are several wonderful 
Titians, as "Isabella of Portugal, wife of Charles 
V." "Philip II, when a youth," etc.; also 
Rubens' "Maria de' Medicis, Queen Regent of 
France;" Andrea del Sarto's "Lucretia del Fede, 
his wife;" a fine Rembrandt of "Sophonisba 
receiving the poisoned cup sent by her husband, 
Masinissa," and some works by Anton Mor, 
the Spanish painter in the time of Philip II. 
Mor's portrait of "Queen Mary of England 
(bloody Mary), wife of Philip II" is specially fine. 



1 08 



XVI 

AMSTERDAM— RYKS MUSEUM 

OEMBRANDT'S "Night Watch" (Fig. 80) 
* ^ is the greatest treasure in the Ryks Mu- 
seum, and one of the greatest masterpieces in the 
world. Rembrandt probably had no sketch of 
the subject as a whole in making this corporation 
picture, although two hasty sketches of the cen- 
tral group exist — one in black chalk and the other 
a pen drawing. The discussion regarding the 
correct title of the scene seems settled in favour of 
the "Day Watch" despite the fact that some au- 
thorities still cling to the former name. In the 
opinion of many the term "Night Watch" may 
have come from the dense shadows and dark 
tones which, even in 1 780, made Reynolds doubt- 
ful whether this was really a Rembrandt. Strange 
stories also have arisen as to the meaning of the 
scene. Of the two most commonly told, one 
account says that the men were assembled in prep- 
aration for practice of military tactics and that 
the moment chosen by the artist is the instant 
when the men with arms prepared are ready to 
start out. This would give decided precedent 
[109] 



WHAT PICTURES TO SEE 

to the term "Day Watch." The other story is 
more picturesque and might account for the un- 
certain condition of the tones in the painting. 
It says that the civic guards were at a banquet, 
when in the midst of the festivities a little girl 
gave an alarm; she said that while she and her 
little companion were playing at nightfall near 
the edge of the town they overheard some Spanish 
soldiers- planning an attack. This startling in- 
formation might have been the cause of the ap- 
parent confusion in the scene and explain the 
presence in the foreground of the child, a queer 
mixture of woman and girl. It matters little, 
however, what the cause of the assembly may be, 
or the name of the picture, for we are intensely 
absorbed in the marvellous lighting. Whence 
comes the light that floods the whole form of the 
child ? Why is one man in the foreground appar- 
ently in the full sunlight while his companion 
by his side, excepting for his face, hand, and 
collar, is in the shadow? Never has Rembrandt 
been more arbitrary in placing his light than in 
this curious composition. 

When the "Night Watch" was placed in the 
Ryks Museum it was too large for the space 
assigned, so a piece was cut off each side to accom- 
modate it to its new home. Was there ever greater 
vandalism than that? This picture was the be- 
ginning of the end of Rembrandt's life as a popular 
[no] 



AMSTERDAM 

artist. The civic guards had asked for a guild 
picture where each man would have equal promi- 
nence, but the artist was not willing simply to 
make a portrait group regardless of pictorial effect 
even to hold the patronage that was his right. 
Art was considered too sacred a calling by Rem- 
brandt to be controlled by the patron. The 
" Night Watch" has been recently cleaned, and 
now more than ever gives the impression of being 
a " Day Watch." 

Rembrandt found in "The Cloth Merchants" 
(Fig. 81), that a portrait quality best suited the 
corporation picture. In this painting we have the 
same keen, bright faces so characteristic of the 
Dutch merchants to-day; in fact, one can scarcely 
realise that nearly three hundred years have rolled by 
since Rembrandt painted these men. Dark clothes, 
wide, white collars, and broad beaver hats have 
changed very little in Holland in the three centuries. 
Were hands ever more instinct with life and per- 
sonal traits, and bodies more responsive to well- 
balanced minds? These men are simple mer- 
chants discussing some details of their calling, 
but there is. not a face expressive of greed and a 
desire to appropriate the lion's share. We wish 
to shake each man by the hand and ask his views 
of the vital questions of the day. Not a man 
among them has his " price." Notice again how 
the faces are all in the light and the clothes and 

[in] 



WHAT PICTURES TO SEE 

hats subordinated at the artist's discretion. Such 
unique effects, produced by the arbitrary placing 
of light and shadow, were never achieved before 
or since, but of course there has never been but 
one Rembrandt. 

Close by Rembrandt's "Night Watch" hangs 
Van der Heist's "Civic Guards" (Fig. 82). Sir 
Joshua Reynolds said of this work: "This is, 
perhaps, the first picture of portraits in the world, 
comprehending more qualities which make a 
perfect portrait than any other I have seen." 
Heist was perfectly willing to sacrifice the pic- 
ture quality in order to please each individual 
in the portrait quality. Someone has aptly said 
in criticising the painting that if Heist had taken 
separate portraits and pasted them on canvas, 
there would scarcely have been less unity in light 
and atmosphere. Portraits were in demand at 
that time, and Heist was ready to help furnish 
the supply and please his patrons. Each man 
of the twenty-five in the "'Civic Guard" is given 
equal prominence with his neighbour — wonder- 
ful men they are, too. Note the supreme dig- 
nity and repose of each, and how expressive of 
individual character are the faces and hands of 
the assembled company! But where can the 
mind rest in contemplating such a collection of 
portraits? Let us turn for a moment and look 
again at the "Night Watch" opposite. How 
[112] 




Fig. 83. The Jester. Franz Hals. 
Ryks Museum, Amsterdam. 




Fig. 84. Christmas. Jan Steen. Ryks Museum, Amsterdam. 



AMSTERDAM 

quickly the eye seeks the centre of attraction! 
The mind feels a sense of relief to have the interest 
centralised. Rembrandt produced a picture, Heist 
simply a portrait group. 

The director of the Ryks Museum says that 
competent judges pronounce Hals' " Jester" 
(Fig. 83) not genuine — probably painted by one 
of Hals' family. Mr. Timothy Cole, who has 
made an excellent engraving of it, points out 
the clumsiness of the hands as the most evident 
sign of an inferior brush, but acknowledges that 
the "Jester," though an uncertain work, certainly 
displays remarkable cleverness of handling. 
There is possibly a subtle consciousness of touch 
foreign to Hals, for his method is simplicity it- 
self and always perfectly natural and unconscious. 

In the picture of "Christmas" (Fig. 84), by 
Jan Steen, this artist proves that though usually 
a painter of scenes from the tavern and ale-house, 
he was equally at home in the family among the 
children. He has here brought us in close touch 
with the Christmas-morning scenes in the homes 
where there are children. Who has not watched 
with delight the toddling darling of the house- 
hold as she appropriates all the presents to herself, 
even to the extent of making a cry-baby of her 
booby brother? Steen has often been called the 
Dutch Hogarth. He assuredly satirised the 
foibles of humanity unmercifully, but his pic- 

[us] 



WHAT PICTURES TO SEE 

tures of vice are perhaps a little too attractive, 
although his sarcastic slings may have cut deeply. 
One of the best of Gerard Dou's pictures is in 
the Ryks Museum. Mr. Cole says of it: "I 
well remember, on seeing for the first time the 
1 Night School,' how I put up my hand to shut 
out the light of the candles in the foreground, 
that I might better discern the objects in the back- 
ground, forgetting for the moment that they 
were not real, but painted lights." The effect 
of the light from the five candles in the picture 
is truly remarkable. The custom of the Dutch 
artists in painting these candle-light scenes was 
to shut out the daylight and illuminate a room 
with tallow dips, then to look through an aperture 
cut in the door and study the effect of the arti- 
ficial illumination. 



[ih] 



XVII 

THE HAGUE— PICTURE GALLERY 
ANTWERP— CATHEDRAL 

TN The Hague Picture Gallery we find Rem- 
* brandt's famous " School of Anatomy" 
(Fig. 85). This painting, ordered by Doctor 
Tulp for the Guild of Surgeons, was the artist's 
first guild picture and was intended for the Dis- 
secting-Room in Amsterdam. It is said that 
soon after Rembrandt received the order he 
bribed Doctor Tulp's attendant to secrete him 
in the lecture-room behind a curtain where he 
could see and hear without being seen. It was 
against the rules of the guild to admit an out- 
sider during lecture hours when the doctor was 
demonstrating to his associates and the students. 
Rembrandt's subterfuge was discovered, but Doc- 
tor Tulp forgave the artist when he saw the paint- 
ing he had produced because of his unfair measure. 
The picture represents the moment when Doctor 
Tulp is explaining to his audience — not seen in 
the painting— the working of the muscles and 
tendons of the arm. Although Rembrandt has 
placed his strongest light on the livid white body 
["Si 



WHAT PICTURES TO SEE 

of the " subject," he has given such pronounced 
individuality to the men listening to the great 
physician that their faces claim the closest at- 
tention. No thought of the gruesomeness of the 
object under discussion detracts from our interest 
in Doctor Tulp or the effect of his discourse 
on his hearers. There is an extraordinary ex- 
pression of keen understanding on the face of 
the great man, and his hands respond deftly in 
the use of the forceps and in supplementing his 
verbal explanation. The shortness of the right 
arm of the corpse is explained by artists as a 
deformity, for Rembrandt never would have 
made so great a blunder in anatomy. 

In the next room is Paul Potter's "Bull" (Fig. 
86). As we stand before this picture and listen 
to the remarks of the people always gathered 
around it, we hear such exclamations as: "How 
natural!" "Doesn't he stand out?" and "Isn't 
he a fine animal?" "Yes," we answer to the 
last remark, "he is a fine animal, but he cer- 
tainly does not deserve all the eulogies bestowed 
upon him by the general sightseer." "The Bull" 
is particulary well done for a young artist only 
twenty-one years old; he has all the qualities of 
"standing out," and of being "natural." In fact, 
Mr. John C. Van Dyke is right in saying that 
"the bull seems in some danger of falling out of 
the frame": he has no part or coherence with 
[116] 





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Fig. 86. The Bull. Paul Potter. Picture Gallery, The Hague. 




Fig. 87. The Despatch. Ter Boreh. 
Gallery, The Hague. 



Picture 



THE HAGUE 

the rest of the scene, but is simply a picture by 
himself. Now let us look at him in reference 
to his relationship with the other objects in the 
painting. The bull has life and spirit peculiar 
to his kind, but the cow and the sheep might just 
as well be of clay so far as any resemblance to 
living animals is concerned. Even the man 
could not possibly lift himself away from the sup- 
porting tree and fence. Potter seems to have 
used all his skill on the young bull, excepting that 
he has made the sky and clouds an admirable 
background for the pose of his favourite. One is 
curious to know why this picture was ever in- 
cluded among the ten greatest pictures of the 
world, as has often been the case. 

Naturally the visitor expects to find many paint- 
ings by the "Little Dutchmen" of Holland in 
The Hague, and he is not disappointed, for the 
number and variety of their genre subjects even 
exceed expectations. Probably the greatest artist 
of this group was Gerard Ter Borch, a man who 
stands very close to Rembrandt and Franz Hals 
in his artistic career. His paintings are pictures 
pure and simple. "The Despatch" (Fig. 87) was 
painted in 1655 when he had reached the maturity 
of his powers. Peace had been declared in the 
Netherlands, and Ter Borch's officer therefore 
represents a soldier retired from active service 
in the field. These retired officers were favourite 

[117] 



WHAT PICTURES TO SEE 

subjects in many of his paintings. We are 
charmed with the simplicity of action in the com- 
position. The scene represents a standing trum- 
peter who has come to bring his superior a despatch, 
an officer, and a girl seated on the floor by his 
side. The striking blue and yellow costume of 
the trumpeter stands in bold contrast to the light 
satin of the girl's dress. Ter Borch loved to clothe 
his women in white satin and he knew just how 
to let the light play over its smooth surface; 
his rare handling also of light and shade produced 
a delicate harmony in tones that heightened the 
artistic charm of his works. 

In "Soap Bubbles" (Fig. 88), Van Mieris has 
given us one of his happy scenes of everyday life. 
This commonest of all sports of children in every 
country has become under his hand one of the 
rarest of pleasures. Why have we never seen 
the full beauty of such a pastime before? Was 
any child ever so fascinating when blowing bub- 
bles as this little fellow before us ? Did any grape- 
vine ever form such an arbour of luxuriant leaves ? 
Surely Van Mieris has given us a peep into a 
new world of beauty. That picture is a messenger 
of happy days. The artist had a pleasing habit 
of choosing subjects from his immediate surround- 
ings and of putting into his pictures a good- 
humoured view of life. His scenes always give 
us a feeling of contentment and good cheer. The 
[118] 




Fig. 88. Soap Bubbles. Van Mieris. Picture Gallery, The Hague. 




Fig. 89. The Descent from the Cross. Rubens. Antwerp Cathedral, Antwerp. 



ANTWERP 

" Little Dutchmen" most assuredly knew how to 
paint for the home. 

We must stop at Antwerp if only to see Rubens' 
" Descent from the Cross," in the Cathedral 
(Fig. 89). It is not only one of the justly great 
pictures of the world, but the most famous paint- 
ing of the subject. The startling effect of the 
pallid dead body against the white sheet shows 
Rubens' power to accomplish satisfactory results 
where a lesser artist would have failed. Such 
splendid handling of white against white has 
rarely been equalled and never surpassed. As 
the eye follows the motive of white light from the 
man holding the sheet in his mouth diagonally 
across the canvas, it notes how tenderly the illumi- 
nation falls on the golden head of the Magdalene 
and spends itself on the face of the weeping Mother 
and the other woman. The tones of white vary 
as sensitively as the notes on bells of various 
sizes and shapes; there is no similarity between 
the white flesh of the dead Christ and the stricken 
face of the Virgin Mother, although both are 
apparently bloodless. The drawing of the dead 
body, so limp and helpless in its lifeless condition, 
and the firm muscles of the two men lowering 
the precious burden is masterful and true; and 
the colours are subdued and sombre, excepting 
the warm flesh tints of the Magdalene's face and 
arms and her glorious golden hair. 

["9] 



WHAT PICTURES TO SEE 

When the German hordes swept through Bel- 
gium, pillaging and destroying as they went, the 
Flemish authorities outwitted the vandals in 
their designs on the art treasures in the Antwerp 
Cathedral by safeguarding the masterpieces of 
Rubens and other art treasures. The " Descent 
from the Cross" is now more precious than ever 
before. 

Also we must stop at Ghent to see "The 
Adoration of the Lamb" (Frontispiece), by the 
Van Eyck brothers, who died, Hubert in 1426, 
and Jan in 1440. No picture has struggled for 
existence 'equal to this altarpiece. It passed 
unharmed' through the iconoclastic fury of the 
Protestants in 1556; through fire in 1641; 
through seclusion because of the nudity of Adam 
and Eve; through a trip to Paris by order of 
Napoleon; through a return trip in 18 14, when 
the central panel was put in its original place: 
through sale of six of the eight side panels in 
181 5 — finally acquired by Berlin; through years 
of oblivion of Adam and Eve in the Ghent 
Cathedral cellar; through the exchange of 
Adam and Eve to the Belgium government for 
copies of the eight missing wings to add to the 
central panels in Ghent — Adam and Eve were 
hung in the Brussels Museum; and through the 
vandalism of the German world war when the 
altarpiece, copies and originals, was carried off 
to Berlin. 

[ 120 ] 



XVIII 

PARIS— LOUVRE 

A S we enter the Louvre picture gallery from 
^* the staircase where the " Winged Victory 
of Samothrace" rests on the prow of a ship, we 
come to Ingres' "Source" (Fig. 90), a picture 
representing the artist's belief that "in nature all 
is form," as he often said. The beauty and dig- 
nity of the perfectly modelled body accord well with 
the severe lines in the rock; and the delicately 
curved limbs of the chaste maiden find a counter- 
part in the stream pouring from the jar on her 
shoulder. The purity and simplicity of the theme 
lift one to noble thoughts and high ideals. We 
seem to reach the real source of goodness where 
all is pure and holy. The limpid pool is Nature's 
mirror for the lowly flower that blooms by the 
water's edge and the sinless child who stands by 
its brink. Ingres has closely united the sister 
arts — sculpture and painting — in this single figure. 
He came at a time in French art when the classic 
was beginning to give place to a little more realism. 
His enthusiasm for correct drawing is still felt 
in the French school, although nearly a half- 
century has passed since his death. 

[ i« ] 



WHAT PICTURES TO SEE 

One of the greatest treasures of the Louvre is 
Leonardo da Vinci's "Mona Lisa" (Fig. 91). 
Although Leonardo, after four years of work, 
considered it unfinished, it is a masterpiece. 
Her smile alone is the wonder of critics and the 
despair of artists. To paint a face in the act 
of crying or laughing without making it grotesque 
is a marvellous achievement. Leonardo has put 
on canvas a smile that is everlasting. The fas- 
cination of that soulful woman is inexplicable. 
She sits there reposeful as a sphinx, thoughtful 
as a philosopher, imperious as a queen, and 
gentle as a woman. Like the little stream that 
winds away in the distance, she seems to have 
no beginning or end. About all we know of 
the history of this unique woman is that she was 
the wife of Francesco del Giocondo. When 
Leonardo painted her portrait he had musicians 
sing and play to enliven her thoughts. 

There are several of Titian's masterpieces in 
the Carre gallery of the Louvre. His "Entomb- 
ment" is considered the best picture ever painted 
of that strange scene. It is not an attractive 
subject, but Titian, as usual, has made of it 
a grand and majestic composition. The dead 
Christ is being borne to the grave by Nicodemus 
and Joseph of Arimathea, while St. John, the 
beloved disciple, tenderly holds the lifeless arm 
of his dead Master. Joseph is swinging the 
[122] 




Fig. 90. Le Source. Ingres. Louvre, Paris. 




Fig. 91. Mona Lisa. Leonardo da Vinci. Louvre, Paris. 



PARIS 

lower part of the body around toward the tomb 
near the trees on the right, thus throwing it into 
the full light. The lurid gleam breaking through 
the clouds falls on the faces of Joseph, John, 
and the two women — the Virgin and Mary Mag- 
dalene. The yellow dress of the latter and her 
rich auburn hair are stirred by the early breeze, 
which seems to come from the gloom in the depths 
of the trees. 

Titian's "Man with a Glove" is the por- 
trait of some person now unknown. But what 
a portrait it is! As we gaze on it, we can readily 
voice John Ruskin's statement, "When Titian 
looks at a human being he sees at a glance the 
whole nature, outside and in; all that it has of 
form, of colour, of passion, or of thought; saint- 
liness and loveliness; fleshly body and spiritual 
power; grace or strength, or softness, or what- 
soever other quality, he will see to the full, and 
so paint, that, when narrow people come to look 
at what he has done, every one may, if he choose, 
find his own special pleasure in the work." 

Of Raphael's pictures in this Carre gallery 
possibly we love best his "Madonna of the Gar- 
den." Into this lovely idyl, painted just after 
he became of age, the artist has introduced the 
little St. John, thus giving a wider range to his 
portrayal of the child's activities. In his earlier 
compositions the baby Jesus was simply held 
t I2 3] 



WHAT PICTURES TO SEE 

by the Mother, but now in the group idea he has 
presented a picture of child-life that pleases be- 
cause of its simple truthfulness. The pyramidal 
character of the composition is entirely natural, 
for the standing and kneeling children form a 
broad base and the Madonna sitting between 
them is just the right height to complete the 
triangular figure. It is not the symmetry of 
the painting that most attracts us, however, but 
the exquisite beauty of the group and the lovely 
landscape setting. The two children are among 
the best of Raphael's delightful delineations of 
child-life. In form and pose the little Jesus 
equals the statues of the old Greek masters, while 
the unconscious adoration of the little St. John 
has the spiritual element of Fra Angelico. 

Ten years later Raphael painted the "Holy 
Family of Francis I.," hanging near the "Madonna 
of the Garden." This picture is considered one 
of the richest in colour, the most dramatic in the 
portrayal of motion and the fulness and delicacy 
of drapery, and the most careful in execution of 
all of the master's works. Certainly the "Holy 
Family" has never been more true to the ideals 
of home, where the family and nearest kindred 
meet together, than in this homely group of 
Joseph, Mary, and the little Jesus, with Elizabeth 
and St. John. 

In Raphael's "St. Michael and the Dragon" 
[124] 




Fig. 92. St. Michael and the Dragon. Raphael. Louvre, Paris. 















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Fig. 93. Marriage of St. Catharine. Correggio. 
Louvre, Paris. 




Fig. 94. St. Augustine and his Mother. 
Scheffer. Louvre, Paris. 



PARTS 

(Fig. 92), we find a hackneyed subject treated 
artistically and dramatically. Notice how lightly 
and swiftly the archangel descends upon the grov- 
elling dragon and takes him unawares in his rocky 
retreat. Not by physical force does St. Michael 
hold the archfiend captive, but as the mightiest 
of created spirits, with unlimited power over 
the wiles of the devil. Raphael's conception of the 
archangel "like unto God," is a pure, undefiled 
youth with a well-balanced three-fold nature 
consecrated to the destruction of evil. The 
trained body finds no obstacle in the rock-bound 
coast; the alert mind discovers the obscure 
hiding-place of the Evil One, and the undaunted 
spirit fears no defeat in the single-handed con- 
flict. Raphael painted this picture for King 
Francis I., of France, in 15 18. 

We now come to Correggio's ''Marriage of 
St. Catherine" (Fig. 93), one of his most beau- 
tiful religious pictures. Legend says that Cath- 
erine, the maiden queen of Egypt, was not pleased 
with any of her numerous lovers. In her dream 
one night the Virgin appeared with the divine 
Child in her arms. Catherine felt at once that 
this Child was to be her future bridegroom, 
but to her sorrow he turned away from her. She 
then sought a Christian hermit and became con- 
verted. Again she dreamed that the Virgin came 
to her, and this time the Holy Child brought a 

["5] 



WHAT PICTURES TO SEE 

marriage ring and placed it on her finger. She 
awoke with joy to find the ring really as she had 
dreamed. The picture is full of gladness and the 
happy spirit of abandon, yet with little spiritual 
significance to mark it as a sacred subject. Even 
St. Christopher, who is witnessing the betrothal, 
resembles Apollo more than a saint. 

Before leaving the Carre gallery we must look 
at those marvellous compositions by Veronese, 
"The Marriage at Cana," and "Christ in the 
House of Simon the Pharisee." "The Marriage 
at Cana," finished in 1563, was probably painted 
to celebrate the marriage of Eleanor of Austria 
to William Gonzaga, which occurred in 1561. 
The guests at the tables are evidently portraits 
of prominent personages of the artist's time, 
but to identify them individually is a matter of 
conjecture. The musicians in the foreground 
are portraits of the Venetian painters then living. 
Veronese himself is the man in white who plays 
the viol; behind him is Tintoretto with a similar 
instrument, and on the other side Titian with a 
base-viol, and the elder Bassano with a flute. 

We will now go to a picture interesting to us 
because of its subject, "St. Augustine and his 
Mother, Monica," by Scheffer (Fig. 94). There 
is nothing attractive in the cold colour, the hard 
drawing, the strained and awkward positions of 
the mother and son, yet the sincerity and deep 

[126] 




Fig. 95. Immaculate Conception. Murillo. Louvre, Paris. 




Fig. 96. Coronation of the Virgin. Fra Angelico. Louvre, Paris. 



PARIS 

religious feeling in the upturned faces touch a 
responsive chord in our hearts. The devoted 
Christian mother at last has had her prayers 
answered, for the dissipated son has been brought 
into the kingdom. St. Augustine became one 
of the greatest fathers in the Church during the 
fifth century, and to-day is revered as the patron 
saint of theologians and learned men. 

Murillo's "Immaculate Conception" (Fig. 95) 
is probably the most popular picture in the Louvre 
to the lay public. Moreover, this beautiful Vir- 
gin, gazing into heaven with the half -moon under 
her feet, is certainly a lovely child. Nothing 
could be more graceful than the deep blue mantle 
concealing and revealing the soft white robe 
beneath it. The setting of blue sky and fleecy 
clouds, and the delicate soft pink of the baby 
throng make a charming picture indeed. But 
is there any depth in the excessive sweetness of 
the doll-baby face? Can you conceive of that 
simple child saying, " Behold, the hand-maid of 
the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word"? 
Is this the Virgin unto whom shall be born one 
whose "Name shall be called Wonderful, Coun- 
sellor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, 
the Prince of Peace"? Murillo's religious pic- 
tures savour too much of sentimentalism to give 
true spiritual food, especially those of the imma- 
culate conception. 

[127] 



WHAT PICTURES TO SEE 

How quickly we feel the spirit of genuine 
religious fervour in Fra Angelico's "Coronation 
of the Virgin" (Fig. 96). Here is none of the 
beauty of form, grace of pose, and artistic arrange- 
ment of drapery, but spiritual sincerity breathes 
from every line. Notice how delicately the artist 
has portrayed the smallest detail in the Gothic 
throne, and how tenderly and lovingly each jewel 
is placed in the crown of the divine Mother and 
risen Son. Fra Angelico used his art to advance 
the religion of Christ, and every stroke of his 
brush was made after a prayer for Divine guidance. 
No one could question the spirit of true devotion 
in such a work of art; the childlike character 
of the theme and simplicity in executing the 
thought warm our hearts and bring us nearer 
to holy aspirations. 

This picture was taken from the church of 
San Domenico, Fiesole, Italy, during the inva- 
sion of the French in 181 2, and carried to Paris. 



[128] 



XIX 

PARIS— LOUVRE (Continued) 

TN studying Corot's " Dance of the Nymphs" 
"*- (Fig. 97), we feel a peculiar joyousness in 
the artist's love for the big out-of-doors. Corot 
was a veritable child of nature, hence always called 
the happy one of the Barbizon group of artists. 
The nymphs are not the only dancers in this 
sylvan scene, for the leaves are dancing on the 
branches, the flowers are dancing in the grass, and 
the little clouds are dancing as they scud across 
the blue sky. Who has ever painted such trees 
before or since — trees filled with the glory of the 
noonday sun, dripping with the evening dew, and 
sparkling in the morning light? Corot himself 
says in explaining how to appreciate his pictures: 
"To really get into my landscapes you must wait 
— wait till the mists have cleared a little. Be 
patient! You can't see the whole at first; but 
gradually, by-and-by, you will get in; and then 
I am sure you will be pleased." And who was 
ever disappointed with a Corot landscape ? 

How quickly we feel the living, breathing 
element in Troyon's "Cattle Going to Work" 
[129] 



WHAT PICTURES TO SEE 

(Fig. 98). They tramp over the broken ground 
with all the lumbering patience characteristic of 
oxen in real life. The long shadows and con- 
densed breath of the early morning harmonize 
well with the misty atmosphere that broods over 
the whole scene. This French peasant is no 
laggard in meeting the sun as it peeps above the 
horizon. Troyon's largeness of conception and 
freedom of touch are qualities that make his 
pictures well understood by the general public. 
He appeals to that great majority who feel the 
truth though they may not know how to express 
their thoughts in words. We might really class 
Troyon with the landscape-painters pure and sim- 
ple, save that his love for animals has made him 
portray them with such personal traits that to 
remove even one would mar the beauty and unity 
of the whole landscape. 

One of the most classic pictures of the 
eighteenth-century French paintings is David's 
"Madame Recamier" (Fig. 99). The purity 
of thought and simplicity of pose in the compo- 
sition are charming. How entirely satisfactory 
is the severely plain white gown against the pale 
yellow couch and neutral background! The tiny 
Roman lamp on the tall standard sending forth 
its faint cloud of incense is a fitting accessory to 
the bewitching charms of this famous woman. 
No one who is at all familiar with Napoleonic 

[130] 




Fig. 98. Cattle Going to Work. Troyon. Louvre, Paris. 




Fig. 99. Madame Recamier. David, Louvre, Paris. 



PARIS 

days in France can ever forget those two mar- 
vellous women — Madame de Stael and Madame 
Recamier, and the part they played in those stir- 
ring times. Madame Recamier was always true 
to her country, although she refused to become 
a lady attendant to Josephine and was finally 
banished from Paris by Napoleon because of 
her lack of sympathy with all his schemes and 
the intolerant character of some of her brilliant 
receptions. It is said, however, that when Wel- 
lington, the victor at Waterloo, came to pay 
his respects to her, she forbade him her house. 
David's portrayal of this beautiful and powerful 
diplomat shows that it was nevertheless a womanly 
woman who exerted the influence that Napoleon 
feared . 

Another striking "Portrait of Madame Reca- 
mier," in the Louvre, is by Gerard, a pupil of David. 
The portrait is a fine example of the artist's grace 
and good taste in the delineation of the charms 
of a beautiful woman. There is a little less of 
the classic severity of the master and a trifle 
more warmth in the personal traits of the 
woman. 

Still another influential woman during Napo- 
leon's reign was Madame Lebrun, the artist. As 
we look at the "Portrait of the Artist and her 
Daughter" (Fig. ioo), many scenes in her check- 
ered career come before us. This gifted woman 

[131] 



WHAT PICTURES TO SEE 

was endowed with every personal charm, but 
domestic misfortune was her portion through life. 
Her husband, though clever and a great lover 
of art, was a spendthrift and gambler. Almost 
from the beginning of their wedded life he de- 
manded her earnings, even compelling her to 
unceasing labour that he might live in elegance, 
while she oftentimes was nearly destitute. But 
her cramped quarters of two or three rooms were 
the delight of the cultured, and her little daughter 
for a time was her daily comfort. Still more 
sadness was in store for the brave woman, for 
the daughter became estranged from her mother 
through marriage to a scheming husband. Ma- 
dame Lebrun, banished from France by Napo- 
leon, visited many countries, and her personal 
charms and amazing talents always brought her 
patronage from the royal families. She prob- 
ably painted the portraits of more crowned heads 
of Europe than any other artist who ever lived. 
In no picture, however, has she shown greater 
skill than in this portrait of herself and little 
daughter. The tenderness of motherhood and 
the innocence of childhood are expressed with 
the truth and sincerity that at once awaken our 
interest and hold our attention. Also the model- 
ling of the flesh is superb and the colour blending 
exquisite. 

A particularly startling picture is Ghirlandajo's 
[i3 2 ] 




Fig. 100. Artist and Daughter. Madame Lebrun. Louvre, Paris. 





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Fig. 101. Old Man and Boy. Ghirlandajo. Louvre, Paris. 



PARIS 

"Old Man and Boy" (Fig. 101). You will ex- 
claim at once, "What an awful nose!" but why 
not say, "What a beautiful child!" Who but a 
master in portraiture could have selected a sub- 
ject with so startling a personal defect and given 
to the world a portrait that has not the least hint 
of caricature? Look for a moment at the way 
the artist has centred the interest in the lovely 
child; he is perfectly unconscious that his hero 
has any defect at all. Only the purest love and 
trust shine on that innocent boyish face, while a 
tender expression of pleased interest hovers 
around the old man's mouth. Surely Ghirlandajo 
has produced a masterpiece in the portraits of 
this curiously ill-assorted pair. The brilliant red 
of the boy's cap is in striking contrast to his golden 
curls and shell- tinted skin, but most satisfactory 
as a foil to the old man's affliction. The bit of 
landscape seen through the window is rather 
stiff and formal, yet the open space adds breadth 
and depth to the picture. The visitor lingers 
before this painting fascinated by the kind benevo- 
lence of the old face and the loving trustfulness 
of his wee companion. 

One of the rooms of peculiar interest in the 
Louvre is Rubens' gallery of eighteen immense 
canvases portraying allegorically the life of Maria 
de' Medici. This masterful queen, the widow 
of Henry IV. of France, was regent for her son 



WHAT PICTURES TO SEE 

Louis XIII. from 1610 to 161 7. At her request, 
Rubens went to Paris and designed the series of 
paintings which were intended for the embel- 
lishment of the queen's Luxembourg palace. 
The story told in the pictures begins with the 
Three Fates spinning the fortunes of Maria de' 
Medici; the scenes then pass on depicting Henry 
IV. falling in love with Maria's portrait; the 
nuptials; the wedding-festivities where the king 
appears as Jupiter and the queen as Juno; the 
birth of Louis XIII. ; the king entrusting the 
regency to the queen ; the apotheosis of Henry IV. ; 
the queen crowned by Victory; the quarrel with 
her son Louis XIII. ; the reconciliation; and 
Maria de' Medici and Louis XIII. in Olympia. 
The paintings show Rubens' surprising versa- 
tility in design and his usual exuberance of ani- 
mal spirits in both gods and mortals. After 
making the sketches for the pictures Rubens 
took them to Antwerp, where with the aid of his 
pupils he finished the paintings, always adding 
the final touches himself. 

Mantegna's "Mt. Parnassus" (Fig. 102) is 
wonderfully rich in legendary lore, although this 
quality is ever held subordinate to the monu- 
mental qualities of the picture. Montegna stood 
second to none in the fifteenth century. He 
studied under Donatello, the master sculptor, 
thus perfecting his great love for form and acquir- 

[134] 




Fig. 103. Charles I. and his Horse. Van Dyck. Louvre, Paris. 



PARIS 

ing a scientific knowledge of drawing and per- 
spective. These acquirements, together with his 
vivid imagination, enabled him to put on canvas 
pictures that are truly monumental in composi- 
tion and arrangement. Note how effectively 
he has distributed the various groups on Mt. 
Parnassus, giving to each person some distin- 
guishing characteristic. On the top of the mount 
stands Venus with her devoted admirer Mars; 
near them is her son, Cupid, shooting arrows 
at poor Vulcan, the love-sick husband of the 
indifferent Venus. Vulcan stands on the ledge 
below at the left, while beneath him sits Apollo 
playing for the Muses as they dance in the fore- 
ground. At the right is Mercury by the side of 
the grateful Pegasus. One must recall the story 
of Pegasus to really appreciate how much the 
artist has condensed into those two figures. After 
Perseus cut off the head of Medusa, so legend 
says, Pegasus sprang into existence from the 
gushing blood. When Minerva saw the beauti- 
ful, winged steed she tamed him and presented 
him to the Muses, thus placing him ever at the ser- 
vice of poets; but a needy poet sold the glorious 
animal and he was put to the plough by his stupid 
owner. Poor Pegasus was not fit for such lowly 
service and soon began to droop until his clownish 
master was at his wits' end. One day Mercury 
passed that way and, recognising the gifted animal, 

[ 135 1 



WHAT PICTURES TO SEE 

asked that he might try the jaded horse. On 
mounting his back new life thrilled through the 
noble steed and with raised wings he soared 
aloft, bearing the god lightly to the land of far 
away. 

"Charles I. and his Horse," by Van Dyck 
(Fig. 103), is nearly as familiar a picture to the 
general sightseer as the same artist's "Baby 
Stuart." As a picture portrait this painting has 
few equals; the composition is varied, the drawing 
excellent, the colour pleasing. Possibly the face of 
the king is a little florid, yet the air of perfect 
harmony of king, attendants, horse, and land- 
scape is satisfying. Van Dyck was indeed 
a prince among painters in portraiture, although 
it is doubtful if he could ever have stood — he died 
at forty-two — with Titian, Velasquez, and Rem- 
brandt. He painted with a rapidity almost be- 
yond belief. An anecdote is told of his visit to 
Franz Hals who was about twenty years his 
senior. Van Dyck asked the Dutch artist to 
paint his portrait: Hals accepted the commission 
without learning the name of his sitter. Van 
Dyck watched with interest the rapid brush strokes 
of the great artist. When the portrait was fin- 
ished at one sitting, Van Dyck, with an innocent 
air, asked Hals to let him paint his portrait. Hals 
assented and took his seat for the work to begin 
at once. Van Dvck was careful to place his easel 

[136] 



PARIS 

so that Hals could not see the progress of the 
work. In an hour Van Dyck announced, "Your 
portrait is finished." When the astonished Hals 
saw the painting, he exclaimed: "Either you are 
the devil or Van Dyck! " 



[137] 



XX 

PARIS— LOUVRE (Continued) 

WHEN Rembrandt's burdens were the heav- 
iest he painted "The Supper at Emmaus" 
(Fig. 104). His beloved Saskia was dead, his 
friends had forsaken him, his patrons had de- 
serted him, and his enemies had left him in poverty, 
yet his art had grown the deeper and purer withal 
as his earthly possessions departed. The study 
of humanity became almost a passion with him 
in his isolation ; he sought for the poor and forlorn, 
the old and infirm, the crippled and the forsaken, 
and with brush and etching-needle pictured his 
impressions, thus giving to the world treasures 
of inestimable value. Never have the words 
of the Prophet Isaiah — "He hath no form nor 
comeliness" — been more truthfully depicted than in 
Rembrandt's "Christ at Emmaus." On the 
blessed face of the Christ are impressed the sins 
and burdens of rebellious humanity and also the 
divine pity of the Redeemer. The rich low tones 
of golden brown, shading away from the Saviour 
as the central light, so envelop the other figures 
that the glory of the risen Lord seems to give 

[138] 




Fig. 104. Supper at Emmaus. Rembrandt. Louvre, Paris. 




Fig. 105. L'Infanta Marguerite. Velasquez. Louvre, Paris. 



PARIS 

warmth and gladness to their awakening hearts. 
An expression of wondering recognition is stealing 
over the faces of the listening disciples, and the 
boy at the Saviour's left lingers as though to learn 
the meaning of the scene. Where else in all art 
has this singular supper been portrayed with such 
depth of spiritual significance ? 

Velasquez's " Portrait of L'Infante Margue- 
rite" (Fig. 105) is another picture almost as well 
known as is Van Dyck's "Baby Stuart." It is 
said that Velasquez was the painter of men, par 
excellence, but surely he knew the inner life of 
the child as well. This earnest little princess 
is so child-like in her genuine interest in the ob- 
ject which holds her attention that one almost 
forgets this is a portrait and wonders what attracts 
her. The sweet simplicity of the round baby- 
face and the steady gaze of the wide-open eyes are 
characteristic of little girlhood. Velasquez must 
have known much of the daily life of the royal 
infant and have found favour in her sight, too, or 
he could not have given such an accurate picture 
of her charms. Reynolds is the only other artist 
who has pictured the little miss of six summers with 
so sympathetic a brush. 

Gerard Dou's " Dropsical Woman" (Fig. 106) 
is another picture that has acquired a reputation 
scarcely justified by its artistic value. If to differ- 
entiate the smallest detail of every article of fur- 
[ J 39] 



WHAT PICTURES TO SEE 

niture is great art, then Dou is great; but if true 
art presents universal truths through a big com- 
prehension of world truths, then Dou is great 
only in " little things." From the title "Dropsi- 
cal Woman," one understands that anxious 
thought, careful attention, and forebodings of 
sorrow are the sentiments most prominent in the 
picture. The little group in the centre of the 
room ought naturally to claim the attention, 
but notice how the eye wanders to the careful 
details of the curtain, chandelier, window, or- 
naments, and doctor's flask — all these objects 
have received, apparently, the same thought as 
the patient, the doctor, and the grief-stricken girl. 
We concede that Dou painted the effect of candle- 
light on objects and the sparkle and glint on 
brass kettles in a remarkable manner — in fact, 
to be as "bright as Dou's copper kettles" har 
passed into a proverb. It is said that he was so 
exact and painstaking in his work that he often 
used a diminishing- glass to bring objects he was 
copying to the same scale as his picture. To 
study his paintings with a magnifying-glass 
reveals an exquisite delicacy of workmanship 
fascinating to those who love exact reproductions. 
But does such work, we ask, reveal the individual 
traits of the artist or the model? 

It would be hard to imagine a greater differ- 
ence of treatment than between Van Ostade's 
[ Ho] 




Fig. 106. Dropsical Woman. Dou. Louvre, Paris 




Fig. 10". Fish Market. Ostade. Louvre, Paris. 











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Fig. 108. Officer and Young Woman. Ter Borch. Louvre, Paris. 



PARIS 

"Fish Market" (Fig. 107), and Gerard Dou's 
paintings. Adriaan van Ostade placed his easel 
among the common work-a-day people and por- 
trayed scenes at times quite disgusting in them- 
selves, yet by his clever workmanship raised en- 
tirely away from the ugly or degraded. Indeed, 
a "Fish Market" or any flesh-vendors' stalls are 
not artistically attractive, but what could be 
more charming than this little corner? The man 
and his fish are simply captivating. The warm, 
mellow light illumines the man's dull clothes and 
glistens on his florid face and hands until they 
respond to the reflection from the glittering 
scales on the dead fish. The close partnership 
between the dealer and his wares ennobles his 
calling. Gladly we would give this picture the 
place of honour in the dining-room of our homes. 
We turn to Ter Borch's "Officer Offering 
Money to a Young Woman" (Fig. 108), and find 
the same breadth of treatment, although Ter 
Borch was an aristocrat and usually chose his 
scenes from among the people of refinement and 
culture. Van Ostade, on the other hand, pictured 
the doings of the ale-house and the tavern. Each 
artist was a genius; from their pictures we can 
reproduce the actual daily life of the people of 
Holland during the seventeenth century. Fro- 
mentin says of the picture before us, "It is one 
of the finest Dutch works that the Louvre owns." 

[hi] 



WHAT PICTURES TO SEE 

Certainly the brush-work is perfect; with thought- 
ful care he has noted details, but without the least 
pettiness; clear and well-defined are the figures, 
but wholly enveloped by the palpitating atmos- 
phere of the room. Those people live and their 
humanity is the keynote that touches the heart. 
Ter Borch seldom places many objects or pieces 
of furniture with his two or three persons, but 
he makes those few pieces an intimate part of 
the scene. His sense of selection and discrimi- 
nation is so keen that nothing superfluous is 
dragged in for effect. What a commentary on 
furniture-crowded, bric-a-brac-smothered rooms 
his pictures would be if they could only be hung 
on the walls in such homes! Simplicity and self- 
restraint seem to be the watchwords in all his 
pictures. Ter Borch was a finished workman 
and painted small pictures, still his handling was 
broad and full. 

One of the very popular pictures of the Dutch 
school in the Louvre is Govert Flinck's "Por- 
trait of a Young Girl" (Fig. 109). Flinck was 
not only a pupil of Rembrandt, but his personal 
friend. It was while under the influence of the 
great master that he painted this beautiful child. 
She belongs to no special country or nation but 
is Nature's product and, like a flower, is claimed 
by all who love the grace and simplicity of child- 
hood. There is something of Rembrandt's man- 
[142] 




Fig. 109. Young Girl. Flinck. Louvre, Paris. 




Fig. 110. The Blessing. Chardin. Louvre, Paris. 



WHAT PICTURES TO SEE 

sipidity that were beginning to pall on satiated 
royalty. This homely scene of "The Blessing" 
must have come like bread to a cake-sick people. 
The arrangement of the composition is simplicity 
itself; the element of absolute truth that the tiny 
suppliant represents, while with folded hands 
she repeats the blessing, includes every beholder 
in the petition. The colour, light, shade, and 
harmony of this little gem are prefect. What 
a rare blessing such a picture would bring were 
it hung where our children could feel its influence 
at every meal of the day ! 

The charm of Rubens' "Helen Fourment and 
Her Two Children" (Fig. in) lies in the sweet 
unconsciousness of the little girl and the pert 
"lord of creation" attitude of the boy. Rubens 
here represents the prevalent opinion that exists 
even to the present day in Europe regarding the 
superior position of the boy over the girl in the 
household. The mother, Rubens' second wife, 
doubtless shared the belief, for her pride in her 
son is as evident as the neglect of her timid little 
daughter; yet after all it is the shy little girl with 
her apron full of flowers, perhaps, that appeals 
to our hearts; she is so perfectly self-forgetful in 
her innocent attention to the other two. Rubens 
must have taken great delight in painting this 
child-wife, now but twenty, and her lovely chil- 
dren. He has not only watched the growth of 
h44] 



PARIS 

this boy and girl with the eye of a parent, but 
has probably seen in the workings of their minds 
many things that reminded him of his own child- 
hood days. The heads in the picture are the only 
finished portions and in them his painting of 
flesh is again superb. No wonder that it has 
been said of him, "His flesh colours alone baffled 
every one of his pupils and imitators." 



[145] 



XXI 

PARIS— LUXEMBOURG 

WE of America are justly proud that Whist- 
ler's "My Mother" (Fig. 112) is one of 
the greatest treasures of the Luxembourg gallery. 
Yes, that dear old lady is a mother in Israel, for 
she stands for world -motherhood. Whistler was 
wont to call the picture an " Arrangement in 
Grey and Black." We protest, however, that 
the public cares very little about its being an 
"Arrangement in Grey and Black," but insist that 
it does recognise the mother element in the calm, 
gentle old lady quietly meditating as she sits with 
folded hands and peaceful face. That "Mother" 
ought to find a place in every home in America; 
she is our mother and we need her blessed in- 
fluence. If Whistler had painted but this one 
picture his fame would have been secure, the 
same as Thomas Gray's for his "Elegy." The 
perfect simplicity of the composition is "the result 
of the studies of a lifetime," as the artist himself 
has expressed it. Little wonder, therefore, that 
he excelled in giving his pictures the "maximum 
effect with the minimum of effort." 

[146] 




Fig. 113. Carmencita. Sargent. Luxembourg, Paris. 



PARIS 

Naturally we turn next to Sargent's "Carmen- 
cita" (Fig. 113), for we are gratified that another 
of our own artists has received honour in the 
Luxembourg. Coming into the room where this 
painting hangs, one feels as though the famous 
dancer had just stepped out before us on the bril- 
liantly lighted stage. Her deliciously coloured 
gown, which has caught the light of a thousand 
candles, glitters and sparkles until our eyes are 
dazzled with the lustre of the fabric. Her jet- 
black hair gleaming in unison with her flashing 
eyes intensifies the warm glow of the living flesh 
of her face and arms. Entirely free from man- 
nerism, this glorious creature represents the acme 
of the ballet dancer. Carmencita often appeared 
before Paris art-students, but it is said that her 
husband always hovered near, for no Spaniard 
ever permits the least shadow of suspicion to 
fall on his wife. 

Another American artist, Henry Mosler, is 
represented in "The Prodigal's Return," in the 
Luxembourg. Mosler has told the old, old story, 
varying it in his own original manner, with a 
pathos and sincerity that touch every heart. 
The note of despair that cries out from every line 
of the prostrate boy, who has come too late for 
forgiveness from the dead parent, would be un- 
bearable were it not for the human sympathy of 
the attendant priest. The expression of grief, 

[147] 



WHAT PICTURES TO SEE 

pity, and love on the spiritual face of that man 
of God relieves the awful tension of the sad scene. 

One of the most striking pictures in the Luxem- 
bourg is Breton's "The Gleaner" (Fig. 114). 
The artist has here shown his wonderful power as 
a figure-painter. The charm of the girl lies in 
her perfect fitness for the life of the gleaner in 
the fields. She stands before us a rustic beauty, 
yet the appropriateness of the sheaf on her shoul- 
der, the shocks standing near, and the level field 
stretching away in the distance make her heri- 
tage secure. Breton could paint the peasant men 
and women and give them personal character- 
istics entirely their own. No one could mistake 
them for make-believe labourers; they are true 
children of the soil giving dignity to whatever 
they are doing. The artist's unfailing belief in 
his mission gave him a high standing with the 
French people and placed him among the first 
painters of the nineteenth century. 

In "The Dream" (Fig. 115), Detaille has well 
illustrated the famous general's remark: "We 
are ready, quite ready; we miss not a gaiter 
button." He has elaborated details in the scene 
until each soldier has become a personal element 
and "The Dream," pictured in the sky, an in- 
dividual fancy of a troubled brain. Unfortu- 
nately the reproduction does not portray the 
dream as shown" so delicately in the painting, where 

[148] 




Fig. 114. The Gleaner. Breton. Luxembourg, Paris. 



PARIS 

the soldiers are charging in battle with realistic 
action. Detaille loved battle pieces and military 
scenes, and his own experience in the Franco- 
Prussian war gave him just the material for his 
pictures. 

Decamps' "Foundling" (Fig. 116) would melt 
a heart of stone. That wee mite of humanity 
needs no words to plead its cause. There is 
something elemental in such a picture; its appeal 
is so human that no one could resist, even though 
fallen to the depths of degradation. What could 
be simpler in composition — just a little baby in 
swaddling-clothes wrapped in an old shawl lying 
at the foot of a stone step? Its tiny hands are 
held out to the passer-by and a faint smile lights 
the baby- face. Could a more eloquent plea be 
made in behalf of deserted little waifs than is 
expressed in this simple picture of a homeless 
baby ? 

Rosa Bonheur stands second to none in her 
"Oxen Ploughing" (Fig. 117). What accurate 
knowledge she has of oxen under the stress of 
work and of the beauty of the ploughed field! 
She knows from experience that the second pair of 
oxen at the plough require all the skill of the driver 
to keep them pulling their share. Handsome ani- 
mals they are, too, and how they palpitate with 
the life of the farm! Rosa Bonheur learned her 
animal lessons direct from nature; she was wont 
h49] 



WHAT PICTURES TO SEE 

to visit the horse-fairs, cattle-shows, and the farms 
to study the animals in their natural environment. 
No one ever molested the clever "boy artist," 
as she was called, because dressed in the blouse 
and breeches of the peasant boy; she came and 
went at her ease, for her animal pictures pleased 
the simple folk of the countryside. The "Horse 
Fair," in the Metropolitan Museum, New York 
City, is the best-known of her paintings, but even 
that is not so full of the spirit of the farm as is 
this picture of the "Oxen Ploughing." She has 
here given the poetry of common things and made 
us feel the joy of the big out-of-doors; then in 
no country are the oxen used at the plough finer 
specimens of bovine flesh than the Normandy cat- 
tle, hence the incentive was great for both Troyon 
and Rosa Bonheur to make their oxen-pictures 
masterpieces. 

While we deplored too much realism in Von 
Uhde's "Bethlehem," in the Dresden gallery, 
we gladly acknowledge the ring of sincerity that 
comes from every brush-stroke of "Christ in the 
Peasant's Hut" (Fig. 118). The simple people 
in their homely surroundings and e very-day 
clothes are in perfect keeping with the gentle 
Saviour who has appeared among them. There 
is no mock humility in the bowed heads of the 
humble family, nor idle curiosity in the lifted 
heads, but reverent wonder that the blessed Lord 

[150] 




Fig. 116. The Foundling. Decamps. Luxembourg. Paris. 




Fig. 117. Oxen Ploughing. Rosa Bonheur. Luxembourg, Paris. 




Fig. US. Christ in the Peasant's Hut. Von Uhde. Luxembourg, Paris. 




Fig. 119. The Hemieyele. Chavannes. The Sorbonne (University of Paris), Pari- 



PARIS 

has come to them. Wherever the Christ appears 
in Von Uhde's pictures the scenes are of to-day 
and among the lowly. As a painter, Von Uhde 
stands unchallenged ; his colours are in low, grey 
tones, his light is good and his whole work full 
of integrity and unaffected grace. Next to Hof- 
mann, his religious pictures are perhaps as well 
known as those of any artist of modern times. 

The greatest work of Puvis de Chavannes is 
"The Hemicycle," in the Sorbonne (Fig. 119). 
It would scarcely be wise to omit seeing this 
fresco in the Sorbonne, even if one's time is lim- 
ited. The painting decorates the wall back of the 
stage in the great lecture hall of the University. 
The fresco is an allegory of Letters, Sciences, 
and Arts. The central figure is the presiding 
genius — possibly the spirit of Robert de Sorbon, 
the founder of the University — while beside her 
are two youths with laurel crowns and palm 
branches. From below the throne flows the pure 
stream of knowledge from which all drink, both 
young and old. Chavannes long contended that 
in mural painting there should be perfect harmony 
between the landscape and the figures and that 
both must blend with the architectural setting. 
The purity of his pallid colouring and the severity 
of arrangement in his compositions make us feel 
that we have come into a region where life is clean 
and thoughts are pure. He fought with unruffled 

[151] 



WHAT PICTURES TO SEE 

calm against the artificial of the last century, 
and although a storm of criticism was hurled at 
him on all sides, he won the day with his truth, 
sincerity, and simplicity. Before his death at the 
opening of the new century, all France gave him 
honour and his paintings became the masterpieces 
of French art. We are proud to have one of his 
choice frescos in the Boston Library. 



[152] 



XXII 

LONDON— NATIONAL GALLERY 

WE will not stop to study Raphael's two large 
Madonna pictures in the National Gal- 
lery, having already seen many of his master- 
pieces, but will go directly to Sebastiano Piombo's 
"Raising of Lazarus" (Fig. 120), the painting 
made in competition with Raphael's "Trans- 
figuration" (Fig. 11). As we look at the risen 
Lazarus we recall that Michael Angelo was cred- 
ited with the drawing of that figure. Piombo was 
rather weak in that particular branch of his art, 
and the great master, having fears for his fa- 
vourite, himself drew in the principal figure. 
Although this statement is sometimes questioned, 
yet the muscular development of Lazarus, com- 
pared with that of the other persons in the picture, 
seems proof enough that a greater artist than 
Piombo designed the figure. Scarcely have the 
words, "Lazarus, come forth!" been spoken 
when the awakened man, bound in grave-clothes, 
rises with new life teeming in every muscle, every 
joint, and every sinew; asking no assistance, 
he at once tears the clinging cerements from his 

[153] 



WHAT PICTURES TO SEE 

limbs, using hands and feet in his eagerness 
for freedom. Such muscular vigour is true to 
Michael Angelo's figures in the Sistine Chapel 
and may well stand as his when the reputation 
of his beloved Sebastiano is at stake. 

Next to this masterpiece of Piombo's is Vero- 
nese's "St. Helena" (Fig. 121). There is here 
no display of magnificent brocades heavy with 
jewelled trimmings, so common in Veronese's 
pictures, but rather a conspicuous lack of bril- 
liant colour and sparkling ornament, as though 
to render more significant the quaint old legend 
of the Roman queen. History and tradition are 
so closely interwoven in the life of this Christian 
woman that to separate them is practically im- 
possible. Queen Helena, the mother of Con- 
stantine the Great, saw in a vision the exact 
situation of the true cross on Golgotha in Jeru- 
salem. She journeyed to the Holy City and on 
the spot indicated in her dream found the precious 
relic. Veronese has chosen the moment when 
sleep has overcome the queen and angels appear 
with the cross. The graceful naturalness of her 
pose as she rests her head on her hand, and the 
fleeting glimpse of the cross as it drifts across the 
sky, lift this scene out of the conventional and stamp 
it as the product of an original thinker. Words 
fail to describe the lambent glory that the sun- 
lit, reddish-yellow gown pours over the vision. 

[154] 




Fig. 120. Raising of Lazarus. Piombo. National 
Gallery, London. 




Fig. 121. St. 



Helena. Veronese. 
London. 



National Gallery, 



LONDON 

The picture itself is a dream of loveliness in its 
quiet elegance and lofty sentiment. 

Near Veronese's "St. Helena," is Tintoretto's 
" Origin of the Milky Way," another of his clas- 
sical subjects treated in a most daring manner. 
The individuality of the artist was never more 
pronounced than in the headlong flight of Jupiter 
bringing the infant, perhaps Vulcan or Mars, to 
his mother Juno, the dainty-limbed goddess 
thrown across the canvas in defiance of all 
precedent, the milky spray starring everything in 
its path, and the bold prominence of eagle and 
peacocks as the favourite birds of the immortal 
couple. Although this picture scarcely equals 
those perfect compositions in the Ducal Palace, 
Venice (see Fig. 49), yet it is so charged with 
vitality that the effect is overwhelming. 

We need but turn around to look at Moroni's 
"Tailor" (Fig. 122), a portrait so lifelike in 
attitude and appropriate to the man's calling 
that it stands as the acme of portraiture. That 
man, whose name was Tagliapanni, may have 
been a special tailor in Italy, but his portrait rep- 
resents the trade in any country. Moroni knew 
how to paint "men," and while he shows us the 
costumes and temperaments of the Italians of the 
sixteenth century, yet we have here the genus man 
developed to the highest in a special calling, 
regardless of time or place. 

[155] 



WHAT PICTURES TO SEE 

As we study his " Lawyer," and note the fresh- 
ness of colour, the alert expression on the man's 
face, and the up-to-dateness of the execution, we 
might think it just fresh from the artist's studio. 
Such portraiture makes all the world akin, for 
it emphasises that quality in humanity which 
distinguishes man from the beast. 

Another portrait in the National Gallery that 
stands for the delineation of personal charac- 
teristics is Bellini's "Doge Leonardo Loredino" 
(Fig. 123). This likeness of the aristocratic old 
face is so true that the Doge's biography might 
be written quite easily from its tell-tale lines. 
One does not need to be told that this is the man 
who carried the Venetian Republic through the 
most trying and tumultuous periods of its exist- 
ence. Loredino became doge in 1501. Pope 
and emperor, France and Spain combined to 
destroy his power, but without avail. The in- 
trepid old warrior s'ood firm though the republic 
was irredeemably impoverished and deprived of 
all its Italian possessions. We now note with 
deepened interest how beautifully clear-cut is each 
feature of the fine old face, the deep-set eyes, the 
strong nose, the firm, sensitive mouth, the stub- 
born chin — all confirm the historical record and 
at the same time place Giovanni Bellini among 
the great masters of portraiture. 

In Velasquez' two portraits of Philip IV. of 

[156] 




Fig. 122. The Tailor. Moroni. National Gallery, London. 




Fig. 123. Doge Loredano. Bellini. National Gallery, London. 



LONDON 

Spain, he shows us the king when a young man 
and again when about fifty years old. Velasquez 
painted this fitful monarch in every conceivable pose 
and costume, possibly thinking to vary his dull, 
uninteresting countenance by external changes, 
In the portrait of him at middle life he is dressed 
in black and wears the stiff, projecting collar which 
he had himself invented. It is related that Philip 
was so elated over the new collar, the product 
of his own ingenuity, that he gave a festival and 
followed it by a procession to the church to thank 
God for the blessing. Not even Velasquez could 
give animation to the thin, narrow face with its 
lustreless eyes, heavy projecting Austrian lip, 
and pale yellow hair, yet he did make the mon- 
arch a living, breathing personality. 

One of the most famous of Rubens' portraits is 
"The Chapeau de Paille" (Fig. 124), better 
known as the " Straw Hat," although the latter 
name grew out of a mistake in spelling — the hat 
is really felt. It is possible that this lady was 
the artist's fiancee at one time; be that as it may, 
she certainly was some one whose personal charms 
attracted him. Rubens' manner of contrasting 
the black hat and dress with the brilliant flesh 
tones of face and neck is one of his most tanta- 
lising methods of effecting amazing results. 
Was any artist ever more skilful in putting on 
canvas the essence of human flesh? It throbs 

[157] 



WHAT PICTURES TO SEE 

and glows from under his brush as though the life 
fluids were pulsing through its capillaries. 

Madame Lebrun was so pleased with Rubens' 
" Straw Hat," that she painted her own portrait 
in the same pose and style of dress, which paint- 
ing is also in the National Gallery. We are dis- 
appointed in it, however, for the natural piquancy 
so attractive in the "Straw Hat" seems forced 
and unnatural in the Madame Lebrun portrait. 
We turn back in relief to the painting of herself 
and little daughter, in the Louvre (Fig. ioo), 
knowing that in that portrait group she has done 
herself justice. 

The treasure of Dutch landscapes in the Na- 
tional Gallery is Hobbema's " Avenue" (Fig. 125). 
Here is a prosaic scene from nature so idealised 
by the magic brush of the master that one never 
tires of looking at it. Browning was right when 
he wrote: 

"We're made so that we love 

First when we see them painted, things we 
have passed 
Perhaps a hundred times nor cared to see." 

But why do we love this scene now that it is 
painted? Is it not the broad expanse of sky 
that holds us? Ruskin used to say, "We look 
too little at the clouds." Surely that drifting, 
changing mass is 

[158] 




Fig. 124. Chapeau de Paille. Rubens. National 
Gallery, London. 



LONDON 



" the daughter of the earth and water 

And the nursling of the sky! " 

as it floats fleece-like hither and thither. The 
tall, scraggly trees bordering the grey, dusty road 
lead the eye past the distant town with its church- 
spire a silhouette against the low horizon, into 
the dusky film of cloudland. The picture sings 
to us of peace and plenty, of church-bells and 
heavenly visions. Is that bit of country pro- 
saic now that Hobbema has opened our eyes 
to its beautv? 



[159] 



XXIII 

LONDON— NATIONAL GALLERY 

(Continued) 

XTOT always are the pictures of the founder 
^ of a country's art interesting to the general 
sightseer, but Hogarth's are an exception. Spring- 
ing into existence a full-blown painter, as it were, 
he, from the beginning, pictured the English people 
as he saw them. His "Shrimp Girl" (Fig. 126) 
walked the streets of London, and her voice was 
heard daily calling her wares for sale. He has 
arrested her ceaseless activity and with an un- 
erring brush has fixed on canvas her fleeting 
smile and passing thought. This street vendor 
would not be a foreign element among the Lon- 
don criers of to-day, although it is two hundred 
years since she posed for her portrait. Hogarth 
discarded the rules and regulations laid down 
by schools of art. He said: "I have ever found 
studying from nature the shortest and safest 
way to attaining knowledge in my art. . . .," 
and what typical studies from nature he made! 
Stop a moment and look at his "'Marriage a la 
Mode," "Industry and Idleness," etc. England 
was at that time overwhelmed with evil and vice. 

[160] 




Fig. 126. The Shrimp Girl. Hogarth. National Gallery, London. 




Fig. 127. Artist and Dog. Hogarth. National 
Gallery, London. 






Fig. 128. Canterbury Pilgrims. Stotlaard. National- Gallery, London. 



LONDON 

A second Cervantes was needed, so Hogarth 
stepped into the breach and with his brush and 
pencil hurled such biting ridicule and scathing 
sarcasm at church and state that England, like 
Spain, awakened to the condition of her morals. 
Soon Hogarth's pictures became simply chron- 
icles of evils that had passed. 

One look at the "Portrait of the Artist and his 
Dog" (Fig. 127) is sufficient to reveal the secret 
of the man's power to quell evil. That face in- 
dexes the artist's good humour and keen sense 
of the absurdities of life, also his ability to cut 
to the quick with caustic sarcasm where ridicule 
failed. Perhaps his pug-dog, Trump, reflects a 
little of the master's stubborn nature; at any rate 
Hogarth persisted in discovering the vital points 
in the social evil and then deliberately exposed 
them with a realism not to be mistaken in meaning. 
But he did not always use a probing brush, since 
his " Portraits of the Servants of his Household" 
show how lovingly he could record the characters 
of those who were faithful to his interests. While 
Hogarth was a reformer, striking to the very core 
of the country's weakness, he was at the same time 
an artist who painted pictures that will live, be- 
cause of their artistic value. 

A picture especially interesting because of its 
literary significance is Stothard's " Canterbury 
Pilgrims" (Fig. 128). Chaucer's "so myrie a 

[161] 



WHAT PICTURES TO SEE 

compaignye" of twenty-nine pilgrims seem well 
on their way toward Canterbury. Possibly the 
Knight, the Miller, and others have told their 
tales, and maybe the Wife of Bath is now telling 
her tale, at least she holds quite a prominent 
place in the company. We feel that Stothard's 
pictorial interpretation of the poet's graphic 
words has made that memorable "pilgrymage" 
so real that we too might join 

" the compaigne, 

Of sondry folk, 

That toward Canterbury wolden ryde." 

Reynolds' "Angel Heads" (Fig. 129) is a 
picture particularly dear to children. This ar- 
tist was especially happy as a painter of little 
girlhood — in fact, he has no rival in depicting 
this phase of the child- world. Although Rey- 
nolds was a bachelor, he knew just the deference 
he must pay to Miss Six-years-old in order to 
abide in her good graces. When once ths dainty 
maiden has accepted his attentions we can see her 
shyly drawing close to the great artist as though 
dimly conscious, while they plan the " sittings," 
that some unusual honour is hers. The "Angel 
Heads" are different poses of little Miss Gordon, a 
girlie very dear to the heart of the childless man. 

Reynolds' tendency to tamper with his pig- 
ments was fatal to many of his paintings. This 

[162] 






■A 



Fig. 129. Angel Heads. Reynolds. National Gallery, London. 




Fig. 130. Mrs. Siddons. Gainsborough. 
National Gallery, London. 




Fig. 131. The Hay-Wain. Constable. National 
Gallery, London. 



LONDON 

was notably true in the use of wax with his colours 
to give them greater transparency. It is said 
that Gilbert Stuart in great agony of mind found 
an eye moving slowly downward on a Reynolds' 
head he was copying. Only by quickly moving 
the painting into a cold room could he stop the 
eye, and then he gradually worked the dislodged 
member back to place again. 

When English portrait-painting was at its 
height in the eighteenth century, Mrs. Siddons 
was the reigning queen on the stage. George IV. 
was wont to say of her: "She is the only real 
queen — all others are counterfeits." In Gains- 
borough's "Portrait of Mrs. Siddons" (Fig. 130), 
we find her portrayed as her own sweet self. 
Many critics pronounce this portrait the artist's 
masterpiece. Although he has here broken every 
law laid down by his rival, Sir Joshua Reynolds, 
yet technically it is without a flaw. 

Gainsborough was very susceptible to the moods 
of his sitters and only when they were in full sym- 
pathy with him and responded to his enthusiasm 
could he do them justice or paint his best. That 
he worked under a growing excitement in making 
this glorious portrait of the famous woman is 
plainly evident. The incentive of rivalship with 
the great Reynolds and the high privilege of paint- 
ing the woman honoured by king and public were 
both causes for intense concentration. Never has 

[163] 



WHAT PICTURES TO SEE 

the " Gainsborough hat" crowned a head with 
more distinguished grace; the drooping plumes 
and clinging, soft plush brim still further enhance 
the glory of the fluffy golden-yellow hair. It is 
not surprising that a hundred years has made 
little change in a head-covering so becoming to 
womankind. 

As we sit before Constable's "Hay- Wain" 
(Fig. 131), we are conscious at once that the artist 
has gone direct to nature for his inspiration. 
The "Hay- Wain," exhibited in Paris in 1824, 
greatly impressed the French landscape-painters. 
They recognised in Constable the elemental 
which was just the stimulus they needed in per- 
fecting the Barbizon school of 1830. Constable 
was a close student of the Dutch landscapists, 
but differed from those artists in that he saw in 
the grass and midsummer leaves a vivid green 
unmixed with brown. His own words explain the 
"home" feeling that his pictures inspire. "I 
have always succeeded best with my native scenes. 
.... They have always charmed me, and I 
hope they always will." "The Hay- Wain" and 
the "Valley Farm," that hang side by side in the 
gallery, transport us to country places where the 
little streams are bordered with overhanging 
trees and the tiny cottages creep close to the water's 
edge. The artist's working-hours — from ten to five 
— revealed to him many secrets about a cloudy sky 

[164] 



LONDON 

with the sun ever struggling to break through 
the mass of clouds. The sun's rays often filter 
through the rifts in bright patches, giving the 
effect of spottiness, but this is to be expected for 
only here and there can his perpendicular shafts 
penetrate the filmy veil. Constable seemed never 
to forget the words of Benjamin West, spoken to 
him early in his art career: "Always remember, 
sir, that light and shadow never stand still" 

Perhaps the most petted artist in England was 
Edwin Landseer, and surely one of the most petted 
animals he ever painted is seen in his "Shoeing 
the Bay Mare" (Fig. 132). She is a beautiful 
creature with animal intelligence far beyond that 
of the ordinary horse. The glossy red coat of 
this favourite, which glistens and glows in the red 
fire-light, like one of Dou's copper kettles, evi- 
dences the loving care she receives. The criti- 
cism that Landseer's animals are too human is well 
made when the beasts of the forests are his sub- 
jects, but when he chooses the pets of the house- 
hold, be they horse, dog, or cat, the human element 
is a feature not to be ignored. We are bound 
to admit that animals constantly associated with 
man do acquire certain tricks of memory bor- 
dering on human intelligence, and it is this glimmer 
of immortality that Landseer portrays in the 
faces of his animals. Unfortunately, however, 
the sentimentalism of the times bewitched his 

[165] 



WHAT PICTURES TO SEE 

brush and he often went to such extremes in 
humanising his animals that in many cases the 
only human attribute they lack is speech. 

Landseer began his art career when not more 
than five or six years old. His father later in 
life was wont to point with pride to the open fields 
and say: " Edwin's first studio." Fortune smiled 
on him from the beginning and his art became 
the talk of the hour. The society-sick people 
found delight in the freshness and naturalness 
of his genre subjects; they gladly gave homage 
to one bringing a new element, since the monotony 
of the artificial was palling on them. 

We now enter the Turner room, but find our- 
selves dazed and incapable of comprehending 
the meaning of the paintings surrounding us. 
Somehow the light dazzles us and a mist seems to 
envelop the paintings. W T e must remember that 
light was Turner's foundation principle of colour 
and must adjust ourselves to his interpretation 
of light. "The Fighting Temeraire" (Fig. 133) 
has been the most universally accepted as the 
artist's masterpiece. In this one may see at its 
height the peculiar glory produced with light as 
colour. Even the half-tone reproductions give a 
faint suggestion of the power of light in the pic- 
ture, but do not approximate the glory of the 
original painitng. The phantom-like vision of 
the old sea-warrior intimates what she was at 

[166] 




Fig. 132. Shoeing the Bay Mare. Landseer. National Gallery, London. 



LONDON 

Trafalgar when she led the van and won the 
victory for Nelson. The setting sun illumines 
mast, cross-beam, and hull as though to glorify 
the last journey of the gallant ship. The sputter- 
ing little tug is towing her away to final dissolu- 
tion. It is said that Turner and some of his friends 
stood on the banks of the Thames watching the 
departure of the old Temeraire when one friend 
suggested to the artist that he make the scene be- 
fore them the subject of a picture. Turner made 
no reply, but in the Academy Exhibition of 1839 
he entered this painting, to the surprise and de- 
light of every one. 

Strange indeed was the life of this genius of 
the brush. Disappointed in love early in life, 
he shunned the world and became morose, 
miserly, dirty, and altogether unattractive. His 
one redeeming virtue was his unceasing love for 
his father. He would often say laughingly, 
" Father begins and finishes my pictures," because 
the old man stretched the canvas and varnished 
the finished painting. Turner's proneness to 
tamper with his pigments has resulted in a lack 
of permanency in colour that is evident in many 
faded canvases. To understand his art is to 
understand a dreamer with a vivid imagination. 
He represents nature in magical moods and in 
splendid attire, but he never came close to her 
heart like Constable. 

[167] 



XXIV 

LONDON— NATIONAL PORTRAIT, TATE, 

AND GROSVENOR HOUSE 

GALLERIES 

rpHE modern room in the National Portrait 
-*- Gallery has a large number of George 
Frederick Watts' portraits of England's distin- 
guished men. Tennyson's lines: 

"As when a painter, poring on a face, 

Divinely, through all hindrance, finds the man 

Behind it " 

might have been written with Watts, the artist, 
in mind. He seems to expose the very soul of 
the sitter with his probing brush. Only men of 
character could have endured such searchings 
through the inner workings of the heart. What 
wonderful men those are that Watts has por- 
trayed for us: William Ewart Gladstone, Robert 
Browning, John Stuart Mill, Thomas Carlyle, 
Lord Tennyson, Lord Lytton, Cardinal Man- 
ning, Matthew Arnold, and a score of others! 
Poet, statesman, and churchman live again in his 
canvases. We linger long and musingly before 
[168] 




Fig. 134. Portrait of Matthew Arnold. 
Watts. National Portrait Gallery, London. 




Fig. 135. Lady Macbeth. Sargent. Tait Gallery, London. 



LONDON 

them. Individuality marks each portrait. As 
we look into the face of "Matthew Arnold" 
(Fig. 134), we like to remember that twice he 
visited America, about thirty-five years ago. 
No literary man has exerted a greater influence 
on the literature of the day than this English 
critic, poet and prose writer. Those keen eyes, 
calm and steady, saw clear visions. His words 
cut deep into false reasoning but with construc- 
tive intent. These portraits of the giants of the 
nineteenth century are of inestimable value to 
England and to the world. In them Watts has 
epitomized the history of the Anglo Saxon race. 

It was not alone in portraiture that Watts 
reigned supreme. His pictures in the Tate Gal- 
lery seem to justify the statement that another 
Titian has arisen in Watts. No one can study 
that collection without feeling the truth of his 
own words: "My intention has been not so much 
to paint pictures that will charm the eye as to sug- 
gest great thoughts that will appeal to the imagi- 
nation and the heart, and kindle all that is best 
and noblest in humanity." 

Before giving these paintings in the Tate col- 
lection special thought, let us look at Sargent's 
"Ellen Terry as Lady Macbeth" (Fig. 135). 
Quite unique has been the life of this woman 
whose artistic career has never been surpassed. 
It is hard to realise that this tragic queen, "who 
[169] 



WHAT PICTURES TO SEE 

bears no resemblance to anybody else," was once 
the child-wife of the great English painter, George 
Frederick Watts. How tenderly that pure, noble- 
minded man retrieved the mistake and gave back 
the freedom that youth desired! Perhaps this 
readjustment in the lives of these two geniuses 
was after all the spur that urged them to the 
achievement of great things in their respective 
arts. Sargent has vividly portrayed Ellen 
Terry's marvellous impersonation of Lady Mac- 
beth, showing Shakespeare's queen as a real 
character, yet preserving distinct the personality 
of actress and painter. It is a rare gift when 
an artist can picture precisely an actor's inter- 
pretation of a character and yet preserve his 
own originality. 

In Watts' pictures we find that symbolism is 
one of the pronounced features of the painter's 
art, but he used it so simply that no one can 
mistake his meaning. In his " Orpheus and 
Eurydice" (Fig. 136), he has put on canvas the 
picture Pope has described in words : 

"But soon, too soon the lover turns his eyes; 
Again she falls, again she dies, she dies!" 

The sad story of this ill-fated pair always awakens 
a feeling of pity in our hearts. Poor Orpheus, 
soon after his marriage to Eurydice, was bereft 
of his lovely bride by death. He sang of his 
[170] 



LONDON 

grief to all the gods of the upper world, but to 
no avail. He then descended into the lower 
regions and accompanied by his lyre sang these 
words: "O deities of the under world, to whom 
all we who live must come, hear my words, they 
are true." His plea was so touching and his 
music so enchanting that even Pluto was won over 
and Eurydice was called. Orpheus was allowed 
to take her away on one condition — he must 
not turn to look at her until they had reached the 
upper air. Alas, why could not this gifted son 
of Apollo have curbed his impatience and waited 
until the portals of the lower world were passed? 
He looked back at his bride and she at once fell 
away from him. The most ravishing melodies 
from his lyre could not induce Pluto to release 
his beloved Eurydice a second time. 

Watts has again and again treated the themes 
of life and death and love so powerfully and 
artistically that they have assumed both a wider 
and a deeper significance to the thoughtful. One 
of his most beautiful compositions is "Hope," 
so simple in composition, yet so big in thought. 
That single figure, resting alone on a deserted 
world with eyes blindfolded and harp-strings 
all broken but one, is nevertheless a harbinger 
of brighter things. No one can utterly despair 
with this picture as a daily reminder that hope 
still lingers in Pandora's box. 

[171] 



WHAT PICTURES TO SEE 

It is quite easy to gain admission to Grosvenor 
House, in London, so we must see Reynolds' 
"Mrs. Siddons as the Tragic Muse" (Fig. 137). 
At the first sitting Sir Joshua said to her: "Ascend 
the throne, which is incontestably yours, and 
suggest to me the Muse of Tragedy." She 
mounted the throne and took the attitude as we 
see her in this picture. Of this painting the 
artist maintained that "the colours would remain 
unfaded as long as the canvas would keep them 
together," and so far the statement is correct. 
It was at Mrs. Siddons' own suggestion to the 
artist "that he would not heighten that tone of 
complexion so accordant with the chilly and con- 
centrated musing of pale melancholy." When 
she went for the last sitting she found the artist's 
name painted as embroidery on the edge of her 
robe. In answer to her look of inquiry, Sir 
Joshua graciously replied: "I could not lose this 
opportunity to hand down my name to posterity 
on the hem of your garment." 

In this same Grosvenor collection is Gainsbor- 
ough's "Blue Boy" (Fig. 138). Again the artist 
has used those blue tones so prominent in the 
shimmery blue gown of "Mrs. Siddons" (Fig. 
130), but in emphasised masses. This is in direct 
opposition to the dictum of Reynolds that "the 
masses of light in a picture ought to be always 
of a warm, mellow colour — yellow, red, or a yel- 
[172] 




Fig. 136. Orpheus and Eurydice. Watts. Tait Gallery, London. 




Fia. 137. Mrs. Siddons. Reynolds. Grosvenor House, London, 




Fig. 138. The Blue Boy. Grosvenor House, London - 



LONDON 

lowish- white ; and the blue, the grey, or the green 
colours should be kept almost entirely out of these 
masses, and be used only to support and set off 
these warm colours." When genius meets genius 
and methods clash, yet the results are works in- 
spired of God, the bigness of such great minds 
compels approval. Reynolds confessed of Gains- 
borough, "I cannot think how he produces his 
effects," and the younger man acknowledged of 
his rival, "How various he is." Critical yet 
magnanimous, these two men were never on fami- 
liar terms; but strangely enough, when the un- 
timely end came to Gainsborough's life, it was 
Reynolds who stood by his bedside and was one 
of his pallbearers. 

The hours we have spent together looking at 
the masterpieces of painting are ended, but the 
glimpses we have had into that vast world of pic- 
tures are but the introduction to a wider vision 
in the universe of art. Because of lack of time 
and strength we have been forced to pay no heed 
to hundreds of canvases and frescos that really 
deserved our attention. My chief aim has been 
to stimulate an interest in the best that art affords 
rather than to describe exhaustively, and if I 
shall be the humble means of awakening others 
to higher thoughts in the realm of art, my great 
desire will be attained. 

[173] 



WHAT PICTURES TO SEE 

Your presence, my silent yet faithful fellow 
art-lovers, has given me such joy in looking 
for What Pictures to See in Europe, in hunting 
out What Sculptor to See in Europe, and in our 
own galleries in deciding What Pictures to See 
in America, that I hope you will follow me next 
summer through devastated countries and bom- 
barded cities, through byways and hedges to 
shattered villages and bomb-torn churches, 
searching out What Buildings to See in Europe. 
Each year in our search for these immortal things 
of life we come closer to each other and to God. 
These immortal things are bits of God brought 
to us through the mind and heart of immortal 
spirits inspired of God. 



[i74 



INDEX 

Albertinelli, Mariotto, 

The Visitation or Salutation. Uffizi Gallery, Florence, 29 
Angelico, Fra, 

Madonna of the Star. San Marco, Florence, 53 

Christ and Disciples. San Marco, 54 

The Annunciation. Prado, Madrid, 101 

Coronation of the Virgin. Louvre, Paris, 128 
Angelo, Michael, 

Creation of Adam. Sistine Chapel, Rome, 8 

Creation of Eve. Sistine Chapel, Rome, 9 

Cumaean Sibyl. Sistine Chapel, Rome, 10 

Jeremiah. Sistine Chapel, Rome, 11 

Christ, Detail from Last Judgment. Sistine Chapel, 
Rome, 13 

Last Judgment. Sistine Chapel, Rome, 13 

The Fates. Pitti Gallery, Florence, 44 
Bartolommeo, Fra, 

Savonarola. San Marco, Florence, 54 
Bellini, Giovanni, 

Madonna and Child. Academy, Venice, 63 

Doge Leonardo Loredano. National Gallery, London, 156 
Bonheur, Rosa, 

Oxen Ploughing. Luxembourg, Paris, 149 
Botticelli, Sandro, 

The Coronation of the Virgin. Uffizi Gallery, Florence, 34 

Birth of Venus. Uffizi Gallery, Florence, 34 

Judith and Maid with Head of Holofernes. Uffizi Gallery, 
Florence, 35 

Calumny. Uffizi Gallery, Florence, 35 

Spring. Academy, Florence, 48 
Breton, Jules Adolph, 

The Gleaner. Luxembourg, Paris, 148 
Carpaccio, Vittore, 

St. Ursula and her Father. Academy, Venice, 66 
Chardin, Jean Baptiste Simeon, 

The Blessing. Louvre, Paris, 143 

[17s] 



/ 

INDEX 1 

Chavannes, Puvis de, 

The Hemicycle. The Sorbonne, Paris, 119 

ClMA DA CONEGLIANO, GlOV. BATTISTA, 

St. John the Baptist and other Saints. Madonna del' Orto, 
Venice, 70 
Constable, John, 

The Hay-Wain. National Gallery, London, 164 

The Valley Farm. National Gallery, London, 164 
Corot, Jean Baptiste Camille, 

Dance of the Nymphs. Louvre, Paris, 129 
Correggio (Antonio Allegrj), 

Touch Me Not. Prado, Madrid, 103 

Marriage of St. Catherine. Louvre, Paris, 125 
David, Jacques Louis, 

Madame Recamier. Louvre, Paris, 130 
Decamps, A, G., 

The Foundling. Luxembourg, Paris, 149 
Detaille, Jean Baptiste Edouard, 

The Dream. Luxembourg, Paris, 148 
Domenichino, 

The Last Communion of St. Jerome. Vatican, Rome, 21 
Dou, Gerard, 

The Night School. Ryks Museum, Amsterdam, 114 

The Dropsical Woman. Louvre, Paris, 139 
El Greco, Domenikos Theotokopuli, 

The Burial of Gonzolo Rinz. Santo Tome, Toledo, 94 

Portrait of Cardinal Tavera. Museum, Toledo, 96 

Portrait of a Man. Prado, Madrid, 97 
Flink, Govaert, 

Portrait of a Young Girl. Louvre, Paris, 142 
Forli, Melozzo da, 

Playing Angel. Sacristy of St. Peter's, Rome, 23 
Gainsborough, Thomas, 

Mrs. Siddons. National Gallery, London, 163 

The Blue Boy. Grosvenor House, London, 172 
Gerard, Baron Francois Pascal, 

Madame Recamier. Louvre, Paris, 131 
Ghirlandajo, Ridolfo, 

The Salutation (Visitation). Santa Maria Novella, 
Florence, 56 

The Old Man and Boy. Louvre, Paris, 133 

[176] 



INDEX 

Giorgione (Giorgio Barbarelli), 

The Knight of Malta. Uffizi Gallery, Florence, 57 

The Concert. Pitti Gallery, Florence, 45 
Giotto di Bordone, 

Portrait of Dante. Bargello, Florence, 58 
Goya Ltjcient, Jose de, 

The Pottery Seller, Prado, Madrid, 98 

Portrait of Queen Louisa. Prado, Madrid, 99 

Portrait of Mariano. Privately Owned, Madrid, 100 
Gozzoli, Benozzo, 

Angels (Detail). De' Medici Chapel, Ricardi Palace, 
Florence, 55 
Hals, Frans, 

The Jester. Ryks Museum, Amsterdam, 113 
Helst, Bartholomeus van der, 

The Civic Guards. Ryks Museum, Amsterdam, 112 

HOBBEMA, MEINDERT, 

The Avenue. National Gallery, London, 1 58 
Hogarth, William, 

The Shrimp Girl. National Gallery, London, 160 

Marriage a, la Mode. National Gallery, London, 160 

Portrait of Artist and Dog, Trump. National Gallery, 
London, 161 

Portrait of Servants. National Gallery, London, 161 
Ingres, Jean Auguste Dominique, 

Le Source. Louvre, Paris, 121 
Landseer, Sir Edwin Henry, 

Shoeing the Bay Mare. National Gallery, London, 165 
Lebrun, Marie Elizabeth Louise Vigee, 

Portrait of the Artist and Daughter. Louvre, Paris, 131 

Portrait of Artist (Straw Hat). National Gallery, London, 
158 
Lippi, Fra Filippo, 

The Coronation of the Virgin. Academy, Florence, 51 
Lotto, Lorenzo, 

The Three Ages of Man. Pitti Gallery, Florence, 45 
Mantegna, Andrea, 

Mt. Parnassus. Louvre, Paris, 134 
Memmi, Simone (and other artists), 

Religion and Philosophy. Santa Maria Novella, Florence, 
57 

[177] 



INDEX 



Mieris, Franz van, 

Soap Bubbles. The Hague, Holland, 118 

MORETTO, IL (ALESSANDRO BUONVICINO), 

Supper in the House of Simon. Academy, Venice, 64 
Mor, Anton, 

Portrait of Queen Mary of England. Prado, Madrid, 108 
Moroni, Giovanni Battista, 

The Tailor. National Gallery, London, 155 

The Lawyer. National Gallery, London, 156 
Mosler, Henry, 

The Prodigal's Return. Luxembourg, Paris, 147 
Murillo, Bartolome Esteban, 

The Guardian Angel. Cathedral, Seville, 80 

Vision of St. Anthony of Padua. Cathedral, Seville, 80 

Miracle of Loaves and Fishes. Hospital, Seville, 8,3 

St. Anthony and the Christ Child. Museum, Seville, 84 

St. Joseph and Infant Saviour. Museum, Seville, 85 

The Immaculate Conception. Louvre, Paris, 127 
Ostade, Adrian van, 

The Fish Market. Louvre, Paris, 141 
Palma (il Vecchio), Jocopo, 

St. Barbara. Santa Maria Formosa, Venice, 67 
Perugino, Pietro, 

Christ Giving the Keys to St. Peter. Sistine Chapel, 
Rome, 15 

The Resurrection. Vatican, Rome, 21 

The Assumption of the Virgin. Academy, Florence, 51 
Pintoricchio, Bernardino, 

The Madonna and Child. Vatican, Rome, 17 

Boy. Dresden Gallery, 95 
Piombo, Sebastiano Del, 

Raising of Lazarus. National Gallery, London, 153 
Potter, Paul, 

The Young Bull. The Hague, Holland, 116 
Raphael, Sanzio, 

Feed My Sheep. Vatican, Rome, 17 

Mt. Parnassus. Vatican, Rome, 18 

Creation of Eve. Vatican, Rome, 19 

The Transfiguration. Vatican, Rome, 19 

Madonna of Foligno. Vatican, Rome, 20 

Fornarina. Barberina Palace, Rome, 25 

[178] 



INDEX 

The Sibyls. S. Maria della Pace, Rome, 27 

Galatea. Farnesina Villa, Rome, 28 

Portrait of Julius II. Uffizi Gallery, Florence, 36 

Madonna of the Goldfinch. Uffizi Gallery, Florence, 37 

Madonna of the Chair. Pitti Gallery, Florence, 40 

Madonna of the Grand Duke. Pitti Gallery, Florence, 42 

Portrait of Julius II. Pitti Gallery, Florence, 42 

Portrait of Leo X. Pitti Gallery, Florence, 43 

Marriage of the Virgin. Brera Gallery, Milan, 75 

Portrait of the Cardinal. Prado, Madrid, 102 

Bearing the Cross. Prado, Madrid, 107 

Madonna della Rosa. Prado, Madrid, 107 

Madonna of the Garden. Louvre, Paris, 123 

Holy Family of St. Francis. Louvre, Paris, 124 

St. Michael and the Dragon. Louvre, Paris, 125 

Rembrandt van Ryn, 

Sophonisba Receiving the Poisoned Cup. Prado, Madrid, 

108 
The Night Watch. Ryks Museum, Amsterdam, 109 
The Cloth Merchants. Ryks Museum, Amsterdam, in 
The School of Anatomy. The Hague, Holland, 115 
The Supper at Emmaus. Louvre, Paris, 138 

Reni, Guido, 

Aurora. Rospigliosi Palace, Rome, 23 

St. Michael and the Dragon. S. Maria dei Cappuccini, 

Rome, 24 
Beatrice Cenci. Barberini Palace, Rome, 25 

Reynolds, Sir Joshua, 

Angel Heads. National Gallery, London, 162 
Tragic Muse (Mrs. Siddons). Grosvenor House, London, 
172 

Romano, Gitjlio, 

The Dance of the Muses. Pitti Gallery, Florence, 43 
Holy Family. Prado, Madrid, 108 

Rubens, Peter Paul, 

The Three Graces. Prado, Madrid, 104 
Portrait of Maria de' Medici. Prado, Madrid, 108 
Descent from the Cross. Antwerp Cathedral, 119 
Life of Maria de' Medici. Louvre, Paris, 133 
Helen Fourment and Children. Louvre, Paris, 144 
The Straw Hat. National Gallery, London, 157 

[ 179] 



INDEX 

Sargent, John S., 

Carmencita. Luxembourg, Paris, 147 

Lady Macbeth (Ellen Terry). Tait Gallery, London, 169 
Sarto, Andrea del, 

Madonna of the Harpies (detail). Uffizi Gallery, Florence, 

31 

The Holy Family. Pitti Gallery, Florence, 46 

The Last Supper. San Salvi, Florence, 58 

Lucretia del Fede. Prado, Madrid, 108 

SCHEFFER, ARY, 

St. Augustine and his Mother, Monica. Louvre, Paris, 126 

Sodoma, IL, 

St. Sebastian. Uffizi Gallery, Florence, 32 

Steen, Jan, 

Christmas. Ryks Museum, Amsterdam, 113 

Stothard, Thomas, 

The Canterbury Pilgrims. National Gallery, London, 161 

Ter Borch, Gerard, 

The Despatch. The Hague, Holland, 117 
Officer Offering Money to Young Woman. Louvre, Paris, 
141 

Tintoretto il (Jocopo Robusti), 

Christ and the Adulteress. Academy, Venice, 63 
Minerva Driving Away Mars. Doges' Palace, Venice, 68 
Marriage of Bacchus and Ariadne. Doges' Palace, Venice, 

69 
Miracle of St. Mark. Academy, Venice, 69 
Finding the Body of St. Mark. Brera Gallery, Milan, 77 
Origin of the Milky Way. National Gallery, London, 155 

Titian (Tiziano Vecelli), 

Flora. Uffizi Gallery, Florence, 38 

Magdalene. Pitti Gallery, Florence, 39 

La Bella. Pitti Gallery, Florence, 40 

Assumption. Academy, Venice, 60 

Presentation in the Temple. Academy, Venice, 61 

The Madonna of the Pesaro Family. The Frari, Venice, 71 

Portrait of Charles V and His Dog. Prado, Madrid, 103 

Portrait of Queen Isabella of Portugal. Prado, Madrid, 108 

Portrait of Philip II. Prado, Madrid, 108 

Entombment. Louvre, Paris, 122 

Man with a Glove. Louvre, Paris, 123 

[ 180 1 



INDEX 

Troyon, Constant, 

Cattle Going to Work. Louvre, Paris, 130 

Turner, Joseph Mallord William, 

The Fighting Temeraire. National Gallery, London, 166 

Van Dyck, Sir Anthony, 

The Musician. Prado, Madrid, 105 
The Betrayal of Christ. Prado, Madrid, 107 
The Brazen Serpent. Prado, Madrid, 107 
Charles I and His Horse. Louvre, Paris, 136 

Van Eyck, Hubert and Jan, 

Adoration of the Lamb. Ghent, Belgium, Frontispiece 

Velasquez, Diego Rodriguez de Silvay, 

The Maids of Honour. Prado, Madrid, 86 
The English Dwarf and His Dog. Prado, Madrid, 87 
Philip IV and His Dog. Prado, Madrid, 88 
yEsop. Prado, Madrid, 89 
Surrender at Breda. Prado, Madrid, 90 
The Topers. Prado, Madrid, 91 
The Tapestry Weavers. Prado, Madrid, 92 
Portrait of LTnfanta Marguerite. Louvre, Paris, 139 
Portrait Philip IV (full length). National Gallery, Lon- 
don, 156 
Portrait Philip IV (half length). National Gallery, Lon- 
don, 156 

Veronese, Paolo, 

Supper in the House of Simon. Academy, Venice, 62 
Marriage at Cana. Louvre, Paris, 126 
Christ in the House of Simon. Louvre, Paris, 126 
St. Helena. National Gallery, London, 154 



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